RWBY Dangan-Ronpa AU
by DoctorOzpin
Summary: The tragedy of the Vytal Festival was not enough. Cinder aims to throw the world into a deeper darkness and has started a killing game. Taking Huntsmen, Huntresses, and criminals she intends to blackmail them into following her rules and killing one another.
1. Chapter 1

The chill of the AC turning on stirred Ruby. She'd been sleeping up right in a chair up until that point. She'd have nodded back off if not for a sudden, sharp pain in her head. Her eyes opened to speckled light and no discernable shapes. It took her a second but she realized she was looking through a bag. More unsettling was when she moved to remove the bag she found her arms and legs tied to the chair she was on. Shaking with as much strength as she could muster led her to conclude the chair was welded to the ground.

She closed her eyes again and focused on hearing and smell. The smell of blood was the first thing she noticed; she hoped whatever was causing her headache wasn't also the cause of the blood smell. She couldn't smell anything else definite and focused solely on hearing. The faint sound of someone else breathing could be heard through the loud AC. Ruby wasn't sure, but it sounded like multiple other people were breathing.

"Who's there?" Ruby whispered loudly.

She didn't know, or really couldn't remember, how she'd gotten here. Most likely it was kidnapping considering she was tied up. She tried with all her might to remember as much as she could which made her head hurt. All she knew was she, Jaune, Ren, and Nora had been on their way to Haven. They had been in the woods, and then everything gets fuzzy before waking up here.

"Ruby…?" a faint voice near her asked.

"Yeah, it's Ruby," Ruby replied. "Who's that? Who are you?"

"Ruby… it's Jaune," the voice replied. "Argh. My head is killing me. Actually, everything hurts."

"Jaune, I think we were attacked and kidnapped," Ruby said.

"Yeah, I gathered as much," Jaune replied.

"Ruby?" a familiar voice asked from behind.

"Yeah?"

"It's me, Sun," the voice said.

"Sun? What are you doing here?" Ruby asked.

"I dunno," Sun replied. "I was on a Grimm extermination mission with my team. We were in the woods… and then I was here."

"HEY!" a loud male voice shouted over everything. "Who do you think you are?!"

"Who do you think you are?" another male voice said back.

"Are you the one who kidnapped me?" the first voice demanded.

"Yeah, then I tied myself up to cover my tracks," the second one replied.

"Oh, think you're funny?"

"Regular comedian."

"Hey, shut up," a female voice jumped in. "That isn't helping. We need to – "

"Why are you giving me orders?" the first voice asked.

"If you want to stay tied up – "

"Coco?" a new male voice asked.

"Yatsu?" the female asked. "Yeah, it's Coco."

"Where's Velvet?" Yatsuhashi asked.

A loud blaring noise cut off all conversation. It lasted a few seconds before some music began to play. It was a few piano keys in the lower range on a piano playing on loop. It felt like riding an elevator in a haunted house. When the tune ended a voice came over an unseen loudspeaker.

"Hello Players," a female voice said over the loudspeaker.

"Cinder?!" the second male voice from earlier asked.

"CINDER!" the first yelled.

"Recognizing me by voice, how quaint," the female replied. "However it spoils the fun to reveal who I am right away."

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?" The first voice bellowed.

"I've brought you all here for a little game," Cinder continued, unfazed by the aggression. "You are all major figures in the world right now. Well, most of you are major figures. A couple of you are extras to push my game along."

"What kind of game?" Sun asked.

"A killing game designed to kick Remnant while she's down."

"A killing game…" Ruby muttered.

"The rules of this game are few and simple," Cinder began to explain. "On each of your wrists you'll notice a bracelet. I know you can't see it, but I'm sure you all feel it."

Ruby shifted both her arms. She hadn't taken it in the first time but just above the bindings on her left arm was a bracelet. It was narrow, tight, and made of some cold metal.

"Those bracelets will ensure all of you follow the rules. Anyone who breaks a rule of the game will have their bracelet activated. It will release a quick acting toxin, killing any rule breaker in a matter of moments."

"You're kidding me," Ruby heard Jaune whispered under his breath.

"Now that you know how I will keep you in check," Cinder explained, the joy evident in her voice, "I'll tell you the rules. The name of the game is to kill. I want you to kill everyone else in this room. However, a bloodbath won't do. I want you to murder each other.

"You see, in a bloodbath you can claim self-defense. You kill not because it is fun or in your interest but because it is the only guarantee you have at surviving. That is not the killing I want. I want you to murder each other. I want you to live, eat, and sleep under the same roof as someone as you plot the perfect way to take their life."

"You can't make us do anything!" Ruby declared. "I don't know everyone here, but I promise you, I won't kill any of them."

"Oh my dear Ruby, but you will. I knew gathering a bunch of goody Huntsmen and mixing them with a couple… less reputable persons wouldn't force you to kill. So, I also gathered a hostage for each player."

The bag covering Ruby's head was suddenly pulled off. She checked to see who had pulled it off but it was a simple contraption worked into the back of her chair. In front of her was a large display with Cinders seated on a throne overlooking her players in a room far away from them. Around her were others lined up in a pyramid of chairs. She saw everyone was locked to the chairs like she was. She was able to see Jaune, Sun, Neptune, Mercury, and Coco if she turned her head enough.

"If you look at your wrists the bracelet will be displaying the name of the hostage we're using against you."

Ruby stopped looking around the room to look at her wrist. She sat unmoving and unblinking as the name "Penny Polendina" scrolled across a display built into her bracelet. It was impossible. Penny had died during the Vytal tournament. There wasn't a "Penny" anymore; just a shell of the robot that use to be her best friend. Ruby began to become aware of the range of emotions emanating around her. Disbelief, sadness, and anger filled the room.

"No!" Jaune yelled next to her. "I know you – "

"Mister Arc!" Cinder cut him off. "If you, or anyone else, reveal the hostage we have you are immediately disqualified and will be killed."

Jaune stopped immediately. Ruby saw his jaw clenched and he was visibly shaking. He stared unblinking at Cinder on the display, who smirked.

"This wasn't the deal," A gruff voice said, Ruby craned her head to see a man who met the description of Adam.

"Of course it wasn't," Cinder said. "The deal changed when the dragon was frozen."

"So, the hostage is supposed to motivate us to kill everyone huh?" Mercury said. "What if this person doesn't mean much to me?"

"Don't kid yourself Mercury," Cinder said. "I know you care about her."

There was silence before Mercury scoffed.

"There are more rules to this game. The first was if you reveal your hostage you die. Second is that the bracelets, while making you follow the rules, also inhibit your aura making killing that much easier. If you die, we kill your hostage as well. The exception is if you are murdered by another player. This leads me to the rules about trials.

"Once two players find a body the investigation begins. You all have 1 hour to gather evidence, clues, alibis, and convictions before going to trial. At trial you need to find the killer. The trial will go until I decide it is time for a vote. You will all then vote on who you think killed who. If you convict the right player the killer and their hostage are executed. As a bonus for finding the real killer the hostage of the victim will join you all in this killing game. However, if you convict the wrong player that person and their hostage will be executed and the real killer and their hostage will be freed from the game."

"What happens if only two players are left?" Mercury asked. "It'd be a tie vote."

"At that point it is obvious who the killer is," Cinder answered. "The innocent player can choose to let them go or execute them."

"What about the last player?" Sun asked. "They are stuck forever."

"Not necessarily," Cinder said. "If less than three players escaped the game, the final player and their hostage also get to leave. If three or more players escaped the remaining player is executed."

"That means only five people can escape at most!" Coco said.

"I guess you should choose wisely," Cinder said. "Game starts tomorrow morning at six sharp. Any killings before then are against the rules and result in immediate disqualification."

"Wait," Ruby asked.

Cinder didn't wait. The feed was cut and the cuffs binding everyone to their chairs released. A crash came from behind Ruby. She stood up and turned to see what had happened. The sudden movement sickened her and her head felt like it was going to explode.

She saw Nora had smashed her chair with her bare knuckles. Blood dripped from her injured hand but she showed no sign of even being aware of the pain. Ruby saw a single tear roll down her cheek.

Ruby looked to see most of the room had been focusing on Nora's outburst. Only Jaune and the one she assumed to be Adam remained seated; they stared at the dead display screen. Jaune sat quietly, but Ruby could feel the bloodlust from Adam from here.

Ruby looked around to count who all was in this "game." She recognized most of the people and had met all of them at some point before today. There were eleven "players" which meant twenty two lives were on the line. Without their aura breaking out, even with eleven trained fighters, could prove difficult.

PLAYERS STILL ALIVE:

Ruby

Jaune

Nora

Sun

Neptune

Coco

Yatsuhashi

Neo

Adam

Mercury

Winter


	2. Chapter 2

Ruby drifted awake. Falling asleep was always so sudden in contrast to waking up. She felt the blanket while still half in her dream. She was dreaming about Beacon and a class with Port that never ended. The feeling of the blanket was a welcome awakening that this was a dream and she hadn't been condemned to listen to Port for all eternity. As she became more aware of the morning she began to wish for the dream. She looked over at the clock positioned by her bed which read 8:47. The "game" had started nearly 3 hours ago.

Ruby got out of bed. Each player had been given a room. Each room had a bathroom, a single chest of drawers with only a change of PJs in it, and bed that occupied the majority of the small rooms. Each room had unique art hanging on the walls, for Ruby there was a painting of a forest with tall trees. Ruby found it comforting in an odd way; it was a very appealing painting in her opinion.

She went over to her chest of drawers and found yesterday's outfit. She did a quick smell of it; it was the same one. It hadn't been washed or replaced with a fresh version of the same thing. She changed and headed over to the meal hall. She was starving, but that didn't keep her from checking every corner and looking over her shoulder. While she trusted most of the people in the "game" there were a few that set her on edge.

She was the seventh person to the meal area. Coco, Yatsuhashi, and Jaune were at one table. Jaune had some eggs and a cup of coffee. Coco was also working on a cup of coffee and looked thoroughly disgusted by it. Yatsuhashi had a days' worth of food for Ruby set in front of him and was making quick work of it. Jaune waved Ruby over when he saw her enter. She accepted the invite to the table.

As she walked over she made mental note of who else was here. Winter sat at a table alone with some eggs and her own coffee. She took a sip of it and grimaced. In the next room over was the kitchen which had window between the two rooms. Ruby saw Mercury and Nora in there having what appeared to be an argument. Mercury looked very heated and Nora was leaning forward with her arms crossed.

"Don't worry," Coco said. "They're arguing about how to make the pancakes."

"I've never seen anyone get so heated about pancakes," Yatsuhashi commented.

"Nora is trying to make them the way Ren made them," Jaune said, "but Mercury insists his family recipe is better."

"Why can't they share?" Ruby asked as she sat down.

"I suggested that," Jaune said, "but at this point I don't think it's just about making pancakes. Oh, by the way I made coffee for everyone since I was first up."

"Yeah he did," Coco said. "It's in the kitchen next to the stove."

"I don't drink coffee," Ruby said, "I drink milk."

"Good," Coco sighed, "Cause this is the worst coffee ever. I'm going to teach Jaune how to make a real pot of coffee for tomorrow."

"Hey," Jaune began, "I tired."

"So what do we have for breakfast?" Ruby asked.

"Eggs, a few sausage, some bacon, and maybe pancakes," Yatsuhashi said. "I made them when I realized the pancakes weren't happening. I believe there is milk in the fridge."

"Thanks," Ruby said.

She got up and made her way towards the kitchen. No one said it, but the tension of the game was undeniably present. Everyone was just waiting for someone to not show up for breakfast. Everyone knew that while they talked casually their situation was very serious.

"Why would I want my pancakes to soak up the syrup?" Mercury demanded.

"Because then you can make them so much sweeter!" Nora retorted. "The way you want to make them is like eating pancakes AND syrup instead of pancakes with syrup."

"They're two different things! They're supposed to complement each other. You want to drown one out with the other."

"Hey guys," Ruby said when she got in the kitchen.

"Hey Ruby," Nora said.

Mercury looked away before saying, "Hey Red."

"Ruby," Ruby corrected.

"Red," Mercury insisted, "We aren't friends."

"See," Nora said, "that attitude is why you shouldn't be making the pancakes."

"I'm not letting you put three eggs in the pancakes," Mercury returned. "The recipe calls for one."

"Maybe your recipe," Nora said.

Ruby went over to the breakfast Yatsuhashi had made for everyone as the two returned to their argument. She was a little upset that Mercury still saw her, to some extent, as an enemy. She didn't trust him and still blamed him and Emerald for what happened to Penny. However, in this "game" she wanted to see everyone as equal prisoners instead of competing players.

Ruby went back to the table with Jaune and chatted with them while they waited for everyone else. Everyone had agreed the night before to meet in the meal hall before doing anything for the day. If someone didn't show up by eleven in the morning, three people would be sent to check their room. Ruby hoped in the back of her mind the first day would go without incident.

Neo was the next person to make it to breakfast. She came in her PJs at about 9:00. Not long after Sun and Neptune came in together. Adam was the last to show up just a little before ten. By that point Yatsuhashi had just made some pancakes and handed them to Nora and Mercury to end their argument.

Once everyone had arrived the division of player trust became evident. Each table circular and could easily seat four people. There was nearly twenty tables equally spaced throughout the room. Coco, Yatsuhashi, Jaune, and Ruby sat at one table. At the next table over sat Sun, Nora, and Neptune. Neo, Winter, Adam, and Mercury all sat at a table alone.

"Now that everyone is here," Jaune announced, beginning to stand up.

"Who made you leader?" Adam immediately interjected.

"No one," Jaune said, somewhat sitting down again. Half seated, half standing he continued, "I uh… I thought of what we should do for uh… the first day."

"I'm all ears," Mercury said.

"Great," Jaune said. "We should explore the compound a little more. See what rooms there are. Figure out if anything can be used to get us out of here."

"That'll do," Adam said.

"Uh…" Jaune continued. "I also think we should travel in pairs. Strength in numbers."

"What if our partner wants to kill us?" Mercury asked.

"Then we'll have immediate evidence on who the murder is," Winter said. "I'm in favor of partners."

"Uh Jaune, there are eleven of us," Nora said.

"One group of three," Coco said. "We can put all the baddies together."

"Excuse me?" Adam said, standing up.

"I never said who," Coco countered.

"Got him," Sun said.

Adam clenched his fists while saying, "If that's how it is I'll search alone."

"We'll randomize teams," Jaune tried.

"I think that's a good idea," Ruby said.

Everyone silently accepted randomized teams. Jaune went to the kitchen and came back with a couple napkins and a pen. He had everyone write their names on scraps on the napkins and shuffled them around. He put them into groups before flipping them over. The groups were Sun and Coco, Yatsuhashi and Nora, Neptune and Adam, and Winter and Jaune. That left Neo, Mercury, and Ruby as the group of three.

Ruby could feel Neo's eyes on her as they explored part of the compound the "game" was being held in. She didn't blame her, as far as Neo knew Torchwick had died because of her. The only reason she felt safe at all, ironically, was because Mercury was here. Only one of them could kill her and neither would let the other get away with it, she hoped.

The three of them were looking through the supplies room. It was surprisingly large and was stocked with nothing really interesting. It had stuff from tape to brooms to notebooks, but it didn't have anything that could realistically break through the walls. Ruby turned as she heard Mercury making a fuss. He had found a box full of swords of various styles. The weapon maniac in her piqued but she stopped herself remembering the situation. She was grateful Neo was there once more.

"It's a replica," Mercury said, giving it a few test swings.

"How can you tell?" Ruby asked.

"The weight is right, but when I swing it," he said with demonstration, "the balance is off. It probably wouldn't hold up in a fight let alone break through the walls."

For added emphasis he swung the sword very fast against the side of the storage room. It splintered and sent fragments flying. Ruby shielded herself against the hail but one piece made a small cut on her hand.

"Be careful," Ruby said, "It's still really sharp."

She noticed Mercury had been hit by a couple shard as well. He looked over at her with a "Yeah, I get it now" face. Mercury put the box away.

"Why would they even have that?" Ruby asked. "You know, a box of display weapons."

"Decoration," Mercury said. "My room has a decorative knife set on my chest of drawers. It sets the murder mood without being overbearing."

Ruby put away the box of packing tape she'd been looking in. She moved on to another box expecting to find nothing interesting again. Inside were a dozen scroll tablets. She picked one up and was surprised to find it had a charge.

She looked it over and checked to see if it could connect to the outside world. It flashed the message "no tower in range." Ruby glanced over her shoulder at the camera in the storage monitoring their activity. If there was no tower signal, how where the camera's sending their signal? Ruby was about to put the tablet back in its box but had an idea. She opened the pre-installed apps and was glad to see the one she wanted was there.

"Hey Neo," Ruby called.

The pink and browned haired girl peeked over some boxes. Ruby waved her over and she walked over. Mercury was in the same row of boxes as Ruby and smirked as he pieced everything together.

"Here," Ruby said, holding the tablet out to Neo.

She took it hesitantly. She squinted her eyes at the screen before realizing what app was open. She shifted her grip to one hand and began typing away on the scroll keyboard. She turned the tablet towards Ruby.

 **Thank you.**

"No problem," Ruby said.

"I haven't found anything," Mercury said. "I think it's time we head back."

"Sure," Ruby agreed.

Ruby turned to leave, but felt a tug at her sleeve. She turned to see Neo had typed a new message.

 **I'm sorry.**

"For what?" Ruby asked.

Neo quickly typed out, **For the Vytal Tournament. We thought Cinder was on our side.**

"I think we all did," Ruby said. "I'm sorry too. I couldn't save Torchwick."

Neo gripped the tablet tighter and looked down. She typed something but deleted it. Biting the knuckle of her index finger she typed a new message.

 **You're such a hero it's almost disgusting. I wish he was here.**

"Come on," Mercury said. "If I go alone I'll probably get in trouble with someone."

No one found anything potentially helpful in getting though the walls of this compound. What everyone did find was an assortment of rooms. There was the storage room, a library, a gym, a pool, changing rooms, a nurse's office, the meal hall, and everyone's individual room. The most interesting thing was a metal grate Yatsuhashi and Nora found that blocked one hallway. It clearly had more rooms beyond but neither of the two had the strength to break the grate down. A little note was left on it reading "For later."

The next few days came and went. Everyone woke up and made their way to the meal hall in about the same order. Nora, Sun, Yatsuhashi, and Neptune worked out in the gym together to pass the time. Adam and Mercury spotted one another but didn't really work out together. Coco and Winter spent most of their time in the library. Neo drifted from kitchen to library to occupy herself. Jaune and Ruby were in the library playing some of the games they'd found on the bookshelves. It kept stress low, but it was just a temporary thing.

The fourth day Ruby woke up and felt uneasy. Something about today felt different than the rest. She made her way to breakfast and felt it among everyone there. They all knew it, something had happened last night. Yatsuhashi had about half his usual helping in front of him. Coco was hunched over her coffee. Jaune was playing with his thumbs and almost completely ignoring his coffee. Winter and Mercury sat silently at their own tables.

"Somethings wrong, isn't it?" Ruby asked after grabbing a glass of milk.

"Yeah," Coco said, "we all feel it."

"I'm really glad it wasn't you," Jaune said. "I'm just hoping it isn't Nora either."

"Wait," Ruby said, "Nora isn't up yet."

"No," Jaune said, "and you slept in."

"Jaune, we aren't even sure anyone is hurt," Yatsuhashi said. "We are all on edge. This might just be how mornings are from here on."

Nora came through the meal hall doors not a moment too soon. Jaune visible relaxed when he saw his former teammate, and took a sip of his untouched coffee. Sun and Neptune followed behind. It was almost eleven, or investigate time, when Neo finally walked in. All that remained was Adam.

"It's eleven," Mercury said. "He's not here."

"We should check his room," Jaune suggested.

Everyone got up, some reluctantly. They made their way to Adam's room. From the outside it looked fine, no signs of a fight. Mercury took the lead and knocked on the door.

"Hey," he said. "Hey Adam! Get up in the next five seconds or we're coming in."

"1!"

Ruby felt a lump form in her throat.

"2!"

"3!"

Ruby was mixed, she wanted him to be alive. She wanted everyone to ignore the "game." She also was glad that someone stopped the person who'd hurt her sister.

"4!"

"5! Your pants better be on!"

Mercury kicked the door in. Inside was Adam. He was on his back staring at the ceiling with dead eyes. There was blood splattered across the floor. It was undeniable, Adam was dead.

There was a chime through the speakers in the compound; a small tune that felt so contrary to the situation. It was a happy three notes.

"Two players have found the first body," Cinder's voice came through the speaker. "Adam Taurus, leader of the Faunus group known as the White Fang has been killed. Investigation begins now."

PLAYERS STILL ALIVE:

Ruby

Jaune

Nora

Sun

Neptune

Coco

Yatsuhashi

Neo

Mercury

Winter


	3. Chapter 3

**Warning: In this chapter the story will start dealing with murder, blood, suspicion, and more adult themes. Discretion advised.**

No one moved. Mercury had frozen in the doorway looking down at the body on the floor. Ruby looked away and moved away from the door. It was one thing to kill a Grimm and watch them fade into a cloud of soulless black mist. A person didn't fade like that.

Mercury inhaled deeply before saying, "We only have so much time. Cinder said investigation lasts an hour, right? Well, collect yourselves. It's just a dead body."

"Look man," Sun said, "Not all of us are used to this sort of thing. Give us a minute."

"No, Mercury is right," Winter said. "We should look for any evidence we can find."

"I'm going to wait in the meal hall," Yatsuhashi said.

"Why's that big guy?" Mercury asked accusingly.

"I'm became a huntsman so that people don't have to die," Yatsuhashi replied. "I do not want to look at this scene."

"I understand," Winter said. "However, I think it'd be more helpful if you and some others checked the compound for evidence the killer tried to hide. Can you do that?"

"That I will do," Yatsuhashi said.

"Take someone with you," Mercury insisted.

Everyone looked at Mercury. He scoffed, tilting his head up before looking around. He addressed Winter when he spoke.

"We have no idea who did this," Mercury said. "You all may trust the big teddy ursa, but I'm not ruling him out. I just think traveling in groups can help prevent foul play."

"He's got a point," Ruby said. "I trust Yatsuhashi, but we shouldn't treat anyone special."

"Coco," Yatsuhashi said, "let's check the library."

The two of them walked away towards the library. Once they disappeared around the corner Mercury and Winter looked back into the room. Nora stood off to a side with her arms crossed and looking down.

"Ruby, could you come here?" Winter asked.

Ruby walked up to the doorway. She stood between Mercury and Winter. Mercury was observing the small room intently. Winter was handing Ruby a pad and pencil.

"Someone needs to take notes, would you do it?" Winter asked.

"I uh… sure," Ruby allowed.

"Mercury and I will tell you things to write down," Winter said. "Add anything else you notice that you think is evidence."

"Hey, Sun, Neptune," Jaune said. "Could you two come with me."

Winter and Mercury looked past Ruby at the three. Sun and Neptune had gone over to Jaune before noticing the eyes on them.

"We'll investigate the rooms," Jaune said. "I thought, well, that that'd be a good idea. You know, to look for evidence."

"I see no problem," Winter said.

"I don't mind," Mercury said. "I've got nothing to hide."

"We'll only be looking for clues to this," Jaune said.

The three of them went to the next room over and walked right in. Ruby remembered they didn't need a key since the doors locked from the inside. She turned her attention back to taking notes for Mercury and Winter.

She was still struggling to stomach the scene. Adam was splattered with blood across his chest. The room was small and had streaks of blood lining the floors and walls. Adam's body was center of the room staring straight up. Without his mask Ruby could see his brown eyes and had a fleeting thought of how handsome his eyes were.

Next to Adam's body was the murder weapon: a blade hilt with a small piece of its blade remaining. It looked like a shattered sword much like the one Mercury had been swinging in the storage room a couple days ago. Ruby made notes on everything but left out her own personal analysis of things.

"Have your written about the scene?" Winter asked.

"Yeah," Ruby said.

"Let me see," Mercury asked.

Ruby handed her notes. Mercury looked at her notes, occasionally looking up and around the room. He handed it back after a second or two.

"The walls show no signs of a fight," Mercury said. "Add that."

Ruby did as he ordered.

"I need a way of telling his body temperature," Winter muttered.

"Why?" Ruby asked.

"Part of Atlas special ops training involved some calculus. One of the lessons was a word problem about determining the time of death using cooling factors."

Ruby felt a tug at her sleeve from just outside the room. She turned to see Neo who was showing her a message on her scroll.

 **I saw some thermometers in storage that could do that.**

"Neo can get you one," Ruby said. "She and Nora can get one from storage."

"Please do," Winter said.

Neo and Nora headed off for the storage room. Nora looked a little hesitant, but Ruby gave her a comforting thumbs up. It was all she could do at the moment.

"I'm going to check his bathroom for things," Mercury said.

"I'll go with," Winter said.

"It's five feet," Mercury said. "You'll hear if I touch anything. Also, I don't know about you girls but the bathrooms for us guys are pretty small."

"Fine," Winter conceded. "I'm going to investigate the body further."

Winter knelt next to Adam as Mercury carefully stepped passed towards the bathroom. Winter began to move part of Adam's body around and bent in for closer looks.

"Bruise on right forearm," Winter said, "it's too swollen so I can't say exactly what from."

Then Winter began to remove Adam's shirt. Ruby flung the pad and pencil over her eyes. Winter noticed this movement and sat questioningly in silence for a moment.

"What?" she eventually asked.

"I…. uh…," Ruby stammered, "Why are you removing his shirt?"

"To check for wounds," Winter said calmly.

"Yeah," Ruby said, "of course, why else would you?"

Winter continued to remove Adam's shirt and ruby blushed. Her blush vanished when she saw his injuries. He was bruised all over; about a six places as far as she could tell.

"Four bruises on victim chest," Winter continued to observe. "Looks like a few pairs of hits."

"How do you mean?" Ruby asked.

"Notice here," Winter said gesturing, "The distance between the bruises is about the same distance as over here. The distance is also almost the same as over here. The weapon was some sort of object with two flat ends."

"Like a boot," Mercury proposed, reappearing in the bathroom doorway.

Winter squinted at Mercury when she asked, "Why do suppose that?"

"My old man wore boots," Mercury said. "I know what hits with a boot look like."

"You also wear boots," Winter observed.

Mercury rolled his eyes and said, "So does red, but I guess I'm the only bad guy here."

"He… uh Adam, doesn't have any cuts," Ruby said.

Winter looked over the body again before saying, "You're right. No signs of lacerations. Also, the killing blow is here."

She tilted Adam's head to one side. On his left temple was a bloodied spot over a small indent. Anywhere else would've been a negligible hit, but on the temple it appeared to have proved fatal.

"Someone bashed his head in," Mercury said.

"Ew," Nora said, appearing the doorway.

Neo was behind her with a thermometer. She handed it over to Winter.

"Ruby, can I have the pad back?" Winter asked.

"Here," Ruby said, handing it back.

Winter was doing some sratchwork. It was a couple minutes before she stopped. Her finger skimmed over her numbers before letting out a satisfied huff.

"Adam died about twelve hours ago by my calculations," Winter declared. "That puts the time of death somewhere around eleven or twelve last night."

"Is that everything?" Ruby asked.

"Yes, I'm satisfied," Winter said.

"I want to check him for anything you might've missed," Mercury said.

"I guess I'll check the bathroom again," Winter said.

The two of them looked over one another's work. It didn't take long for Winter to conclude Mercury hadn't missed anything. Mercury wasn't so satisfied.

"Hey, Red," Mercury said. "That sword hilt, did you move it at all?"

"No," Ruby responded.

"Write down that it has blood on the inside of the blade," Mercury said.

"What?" Ruby asked.

"It's broken, but there's blood at the very end," Mercury explained. "If it had cut something before being broken the blood wouldn't have run onto that part of the blade."

"So," Ruby began, "Someone was cut or stabbed with that piece of the sword?"

"Yeah," Mercury said. "Have you ever seen him fight?"

"No, why?" Ruby asked.

"He likes to block with the sword and attack immediately after that," Mercury said. "I'm thinking he…nah, I'll save it for the trial."

"What?" Ruby said. "Why won't you tell me?"

"Like I said, red," Mercury whispered to her, standing up form next to the body, "I'm the only bad guy here. I have to watch what I say."

A small tune played over the speakers. Ruby couldn't believe that had taken an hour. It all felt so fast, but she looked at the clock and it had definitely been an hour. Mercury had been right, if they'd collected themselves they'd have lost a lot of time doing nothing.

"Everyone," Cinder's voice came over the speaker. "An elevator has arrived to take you all to the trial room. It's waiting in the meal hall."

Ruby, Winter, Mercury, Neo, and Nora were the first on the elevator and waited for everyone else. Jaune, Neptune, and Sun got there're next. Coco and Yatsuhashi were last to arrive. Ruby stood next to Jaune on the elevator ride along with Nora.

"What'd you find?" Nora asked Jaune, her usual perkiness coming back.

"I know who killed Adam," Jaune whispered.

"You do?!" Nora asked loudly.

Everyone looked at Nora. They could all hear the conversation. Ruby was looking at them all quickly and quietly, trying to see who was sweating the most.

"I do," Jaune whispered, "but I don't know why."

The elevator stopped. The doors whirred and opened to the trial room.

PLAYERS STILL ALIVE:

Ruby

Jaune

Nora

Sun

Neptune

Coco

Yatsuhashi

Neo

Mercury

Winter


	4. Chapter 4

**Warning: Character Death, Adult Language, and adult situations follow.**

"Welcome to the trial room," Cinder announced over the speakers.

The room was circular with white walls adorned with marble pillars. The ceiling was domed with an ornate painting of weighing scales. The center of the room had a circular arrangement of lecterns all facing inward. Each lectern had a name attached to its front. The group made their way over to the lectern with their name on it. The lineup had Ruby in between Neo and Yatsuhashi. She looked to see the empty lectern marked with Adam's name.

"Here you will debate the crime," Cinder began explaining. "You will present any and all evidence you found. When I feel the debate is over I will begin the vote. You will cast your vote on who you think is guilty. You may abstain if you are unsure of who did it. To keep things interesting, the vote is anonymous, so don't let your friends drag down your morals."

The room became quiet. Everyone looked around, waiting for someone else to begin the discussion. Ruby was concerned because the evidence she, Winter, and Mercury hadn't been shared with everyone.

"After thorough investigation," Winter began, "I have narrowed down the list of culprits."

"Let me guess," Mercury said, "Neo and me are on the list?"

"Yes," Winter said, looking sideways at Mercury. "Coco, Nora, Ruby, and myself are also on the list."

"Whoa, why me?" Coco asked.

"The only wounds on the body were bruises inflicted by boots," Winter explained. "Of the ten of us those are the only who wear boots."

"Boots can cause that much bleeding?" Nora asked

"No, actually Adam was only bleeding in one spot," Ruby said. "He'd been hit in the head, which was actually what killed him. It was the only thing bleeding."

"Then why was the scene so bloody?" Yatsuhashi asked.

"The sword had blood on it," Winter said. "Whoever attacked Adam was the one whose blood was at the scene."

"We only have the one set of clothes," Coco said, "and none of us are wearing bloody clothes. That doesn't make sense."

"That's not true," Ruby said. "We have one other outfit, our PJs."

"If the murderer was wearing those at the time crime they could simply change," Winter added.

"I'd like to also point out where the blood was on the sword," Mercury said. "There was blood on the end after it had been broken. That means Adam stabbed his attacker. We can't prove he cut his attacker, but he had to have landed at least one hit after breaking his weapon."

"So…" Nora began, "We just need to look for a stab wound?"

"Only those who wear boots need to be checked," Winter corrected.

"I think I can save time," Jaune piped up.

"Yes, you said you knew who the killer was," Yatsuhashi said. "Why didn't we start there?"

"You're right," Winter said. "I rushed to the evidence we'd found at the scene."

"I read a lot of books about murder mysteries growing up," Jaune began. "So, I know a few things killers tend to forget. Things like what to clean up."

"Get to the point," Mercury said.

"The handles to our doors are knobs, you know?" Jaune asked, to many nods. "Well, when you clean up a bloody mess you forget to clean behind the knob. You clean the front spotless, but you might forget to check the back. So, when Sun, Neptune, and I checked the rooms I checked behind the door knob."

"So, did anyone have blood?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah, one did," Jaune said. "Coco, why was there blood behind your door handle?"

"What?" Coco asked. "I don't know."

"Also," Sun began, "There was scuff marks on top of your dresser."

"And no art in your room," Neptune concluded.

"Come on," Coco said. "You think I killed Adam from a few scuff marks?"

"Could you raise your hands behind your head?" Mercury asked.

He demonstrated, wrapping his fingers together like he was going to crack them. Instead he stretched up above his head and tilted backwards. He returned to an upright position and beckoned for her to repeat.

"What, why?" Coco asked.

"Red, would you show her?" Mercury asked.

"It's Ruby," Ruby corrected, but stretched anyway to see what Mercury was planning.

"That's two people," Mercury said. "We can stretch our whole core. Not one single injury hindering us or causing pain to do it. Come on Coco, why can't you do it?"

Coco gulped hard. She locked her fingers together slowly. She'd hardly stretched her arms out before letting hem fall limp at her side again.

"It was self-defense," Coco whispered.

"What?" Mercury asked. "A little louder for the record."

"He attacked me!" Coco spat back. Her eyes were wide and tearing up. "He attacked me. These God damn doors don't lock. He threw the door open and rushed me with a fucking katana. I didn't think, I kicked back and defended myself."

Coco was shaking. Her hands gripped the lectern so hard they were turning white.

"I grabbed the only weapon I had in my room," Coco continued. "It was the fucking statue of a boat or something. It was heavy, and I swung it at him. He went to block with his sword but it shattered. I was ready to stop, but the fucker lunged at me and stabbed me with the hilt. The fucking hilt! I swung one more time with the statue and hit him right in the head. I didn't mean to kill him, but he kept coming."

Coco raised her shirt and corset to reveal a fresh bandage covering her stomach. Coco had gone from near tears to pure fury. Her eyes were heated as she recounted what had happened.

"Someone's changed those bandages recently," Winter pointed out.

"I did," Yatsuhashi said. "I believe Coco."

"Then why is all the blood in Adam's room?" Mercury asked.

"I was in shock," Coco said. "I knew it looked bad. Part of me decided I might be able to hide things if I moved the body and cleaned up the scene."

"Well," Mercury sighed, "you did a terrible job."

"I'm not a murderer by trade," Coco retorted.

"Not everyone can be," Mercury said with a smirk. "I've heard enough. I know who did it."

"Wait," Coco said. "You can't kill me. I acted in self-defense."

"What a noble motive," Mercury mocked, "still murder. Or did you forget the rules? This trial isn't about why or how the murderer acted, but to find the killer. You were kind enough to confess."

"Coco didn't chose to kill him," Yatsuhashi defended. "It was her or Adam."

"That's not how it works here," Winter said. "She knew – "

"The world doesn't have to change because we're in here," Jaune interrupted.

"This game is about more than just ourselves," Winter shot back. "We have hostages, every one of us. If we don't sentence a killer because they did it for a 'good' reason then this will turn into a blood bath. With each one of us claiming we are doing it only to save our loved one."

"That's wrong," Jaune said.

"It's the truth," Mercury added.

"I think that's about enough," Cinder's voice came in over the radio. "You will now vote on who killed Adam. You have twenty seconds. A blank vote will be counted as abstaining."

Ruby's lectern lit up. On it was a list of everyone's name with the simple title "Who killed Adam Taurus?" Ruby scrolled down to Coco's name. There was no doubt that she'd done it, but it felt wrong. Ruby knew if she convicted Coco she'd die. On top of that whoever her hostage was would also die. Ruby also thought about Adam's hostage. If she didn't convict Coco that hostage would die simply because Adam had died. True, he had started the fight, but in the end was it right to kill them simply because Adam had died.

The screen went blank before Ruby had voted. She realized it had been twenty seconds and she hadn't voted. She looked up to see on the wall across from the elevator was a large display screen.

"The results are in," Cinder said. "We have one vote for Mercury Black."

Mercury's name appeared on the screen and a one appeared next to it.

"Three abstaining voters."

The word "abstain" appeared on the screen followed by the number three.

"Six votes for Coco Adel as the killer."

Coco's name appeared with a six next to it. A cheery tune played. Coco began to sink to her knees at her lectern. Her eyes were wide and her jaw hung slightly open. Ruby saw she was mouthing "no" very slowly.

"Congratulations!" Cinder said. "Coco was indeed the real killer of Adam Taurus. I'd explain how, but she did that herself."

It felt unreal. A chain appeared from nowhere, wrapped around Coco, and hauled her away in an instant. Ruby tried to follow it with her eyes but couldn't. The screen on the wall lit up to reveal where Coco had been dragged away to.

Coco stood in the middle of a forest. She had her weapon back and it was set to minigun mode. She was watching the trees intently. There was a black flash behind her. She reacted immediately, open firing and killing a Beowulf. The victory was short lived as dozens of new shadows swirled just beyond sight. Coco didn't hesitate to shoot each one.

The view of Coco pulled away to beyond the tree line. Chains entered the mix of shadows darting around. One chain lashed out and struck Coco across the arm. It left a dark bruise and caused Coco to stumble. One of the Beowulfs lunged at this moment but Coco reacted fast enough. She mowed down the Beowulf with seconds to spare. This fight in the forest went on for what felt like an eternity.

"I don't want to watch this," Jaune said. "This isn't an execution, its torture."

The number of shadows had kicked up in intensity. Coco was barely able to track the chains from the wolves; shooting one while dodging the other. She fired at one of the wolves and there came a yelp. Ruby grabbed her lectern and leaned in towards the screen. The wolves had vanished. The rattling chains ceased. One chain suddenly fell limp just beyond the row of trees. Coco advanced slowly towards that spot.

"Fox…" Coco said.

"Co…co…?" a soft voice returned.

Coco dropped her gun and ran with all the energy she had left. The camera followed to reveal Fox lying on the ground. He was tied up by the chains and riddled with bullet holes from Coco's minigun. She cradled his head in her lap as tears streamed down her face.

"I didn't know," Coco said. "I'm so sorry Fox. I didn't know it was you. I was going to save you."

"I know… Coco," Fox said.

His hand lifted slowly to her face. She went to grab it. The second their hands met spikes erupted from the ground. They pierced straight through Coco from multiple directions. She didn't make a sound. Her grip tightened on Fox's hand before loosely falling to her side. The spikes retracted and her lifeless form toppled on top of her dead teammate.

"Coco Adel and her hostage Fox Alistair are eliminated," Cinder announced as the scene faded from the screen. "As per the rules, Adam's hostage will now be added to the game."

Ruby stood motionless. Yatsuhashi wept beside her. His sobs were deep and his breath ragged. Even Mercury shifted uncomfortably after that. No one looked over to see who was stepping off the elevator. No one could turn away from the dead view screen, hoping quietly that Coco and Fox were still alright.

"Ruby?" a familiar voice said.

Ruby spun around and felt her heart sink. Standing in the frame of the elevator was Blake. Adam's hostage had been Blake, and now she was part of this terrible "game." No, Ruby thought. This was no "game," this was no denying the game she'd been forced into.

PLAYERS STILL ALIVE:

Ruby

Jaune

Nora

Sun

Neptune

Yatsuhashi

Neo

Mercury

Winter

Blake


	5. Chapter 5

Ruby rolled over to look at the clock. The numbers glowed red with the time 7:36. She stared at them until they changed. She rolled back over to face the wall of her room. It had been like this for about an hour. She hadn't been able to sleep much during the night. Every time her eyes closed it flashed to a skewered Coco crumpling over her teammate. The brief instants of sleep that had over taken her had been interrupted by nightmares where she was in Cocos position.

Ruby brought her legs into her chest and covered her face with her hands. She rolled onto her back to face the ceiling. Her mind was racing around the same ideas that had been circling her head for the past hour. She may not have voted, but six people had condemned Coco to death. She had died defending herself from a would be murderer; killing her for that just felt so wrong. Ruby wondered if everyone would've voted so readily to execute her had Adam attacked her.

She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and rose to sitting position. Checking the clock it read 7:39. Now was as good as any time to go get some breakfast. She didn't bother changing out her PJs and ambled towards the meal hall. The entire walk felt like someone was watching her, but every time she checked the hallway was empty aside from her.

Ruby was surprised to find she wasn't the first to the meal hall. Jaune was at the usual table with a cup of coffee. He looked up and forced a smile when he realized it was Ruby. Sitting at the table with him was Neo.

"Hey guys," Ruby said.

"How'd you sleep?" Jaune asked.

"Not good," Ruby admitted.

"Me neither," Jaune said. "Every time I closed my eyes…"

He trailed off. Neo was typing something on her scroll. She showed it to Ruby.

 **I'm sorry**. It read.

"About what?" Ruby asked.

Neo typed the response, **I voted for Coco. I wasn't alone, but I still feel like the bad guy.**

"No, you weren't the only one," Ruby said.

"Neo and I were talking about our vote," Jaune said.

"Did you vote against her?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah," Jaune said. "In the moment it felt right. This game… you can't just let someone get away with killing murder. Even if she said it was an accident – "

"It was," Ruby insisted.

"I know," Jaune said, "What I mean is, if we let anyone slide because of why they did it we only make things worse for ourselves."

"What do you mean?"

"If we let Coco go because of self-defense, then suddenly we set a standard. This type of killing is ok, but this kind isn't. People will just have to start a fight, take a few hits, kill the other and plead self-defense."

"Or say I was just stopping the bad guy," a voice came from behind Ruby.

She turned to see Mercury entering the meal hall. He walked with his hands in his pockets. He immediately detoured towards the kitchen area.

"After all, heroes kill us every day and it's alright," Mercury continued. "What do you guys want for breakfast?"

"Why are you asking?" Ruby asked.

"I… feel a little bad about how I treated the trial yesterday," Mercury said. "What Cinder did wasn't an execution, it was torture. I've got no problem killing people, but torture can get to me. I didn't like that fashion queen, but I think what she got was more than she deserved."

"So, you're going to make us food?" Jaune asked.

Ruby felt Neo tug at her sleeve.

 **He's a really good cook** ¸ her scroll read.

"Eggs, please," Ruby said.

"You?" Mercury asked, gesturing to Jaune.

"Waffles?" Jaune asked.

"Pancakes," Ruby said, reading from Neo's scroll.

People began to trickle into the meal hall and Mercury took their order. Winter was the first person to reject his offer, saying if he was trying to poison them it wouldn't work. Nora also turned him down when he said he wouldn't make her pancakes like how Ren made them.

Neo wasn't lying, the eggs he'd made somehow tasted better than any she'd had since getting here. It was the same ingredients, but the flavor was so much different. She got up and made her way to the kitchen.

"Hey Mercury," Ruby said, entering the kitchen.

"What is it Red?" he asked.

"It's Ruby," she corrected. "How do you make the food taste so much better?"

He gave her a look before saying, "Spices."

"That's it?"

"Little details change everything."

"Yeah, like adding seven eggs," Nora interjected as she worked on her own breakfast.

"What you make aren't pancakes!" Mercury exploded. "How the hell do you make pancakes with seven eggs?!"

"I'll take care of clean up," Ruby said.

"Thanks," Mercury said.

"If – "

"A catch," Mercury sighed.

"If, you call me Ruby," she said.

Mercury cocked his head to one side. He looked at her down the bridge of his nose with a face screaming "really?" All the while he kept his hands working on someone's breakfast.

"Have fun cleaning all the plates then," Ruby said.

"Fine, Ruby," Mercury conceded. "This doesn't make us friends."

"I didn't want it to," Ruby retorted.

Washing the dishes wasn't as bad as Ruby was expecting. Most didn't really have the same appetite after everything that happened yesterday. Ruby left the kitchen to find Blake waiting for her in the meal hall.

"I waited," Blake said. "Everyone went on ahead to do other things."

"Thanks," Ruby said. "How are you holding up?"

"If you mean being kidnapped and used as some sort of incentive to make Adam murder everyone, perfect," Blake replied. "How about you?"

"I watched a friend get executed less than a day ago," Ruby said, matching Blake's sarcasm, "so I'm holding up about as well as you are."

"Let's meet up with the others," Blake suggested. "I'm going to the library. Sun, Neptune, and Nora went to the gym."

"I think I'll go to the library also."

The two of them made their way to the Library. Ruby led the way since this was actually Blake's first day in the compound. It wasn't very obvious, but Ruby knew her teammate was on the brink of losing it. It was the same sensation she'd felt from Blake just before she began obsessing over finding Torchwick. She couldn't obsess like that here.

In the Library they found Winter, Jaune, Neo, and Mercury sitting at one table. Yatsuhashi was off in a corner reading some big book Ruby didn't recognize. She made her way over to the table and found the four of them were playing a board game.

"Hey Ruby," Jaune said. "I found some board games in one of the cupboards. We decided to play Trivial Pursuit."

"Isn't that the one based on the old show?" Ruby asked.

"It's not that old," Winter said.

"Maybe you're just older than you'll admit," Mercury said.

"You want to join?" Jaune interjected before Winter could react. "It's up to six players, and this game is almost done."

"Sure," Ruby said.

"I'm going to go read," Blake said, and headed off to the bookshelves.

"Captain Spec Ops here is really doing a number on us regular players," Mercury said as Ruby pulled up a chair.

"The training was intensive," Winter said, rolling the dice. "We had to know everything about everything. Couple that with my Schnee heritage and expectation of being the best it only makes sense I'd win."

"I came close last time," Jaune said.

"Hardly," Mercury said. "You had four tiles."

"You only need six to win," Jaune defended.

"Last question for me to win," Winter said.

"Alright," Mercury said, drawing her trivia card. "It's for a…?"

"Science tile," Winter said.

"Should I even bother asking?" Mercury said.

"Yes, after all I intend to win by the rules."

"Alright," Mercury sighed. "Name one of the three anthra… Jesus the what? The three anthra – psyche – line

"Anthracycline," Winter corrected.

"…antibiotics named after a character from La Boheme," Mercury finished the question.

"Musettamycin," Winter answered without hesitation.

"What?" Jaune asked.

"Musettamycin is a class of drug used in cancer treatments," Winter explained. "It wasn't necessary for my Spec Ops finals but my instructor was insistent I know every chemical I could possibly need to know."

"My dad didn't teach me anything in the sciences," Mercury said. "All I needed to know was a few things about technology and a few things in biology, and it was a crash course."

"With that I win," Winter said.

"Let's play another with Ruby," Jaune said. "Maybe team against Winter to make it fair."

They played with mixes of teams. First it was Jaune and Ruby, Mercury and Neo, against Winter. They tried Neo and Ruby, Mercury and Jaune, against Winter. Then it was everyone against Winter. Winter won every game. The table agreed to move onto other games in the cupboard. Ruby and Mercury were the only two to not win at any of the games they played. Mercury came close when they played Clue, but Jaune had the answer one turn ahead of him.

It felt good to play games even if only for the day. It took Ruby's mind off the current game she was trapped in. When everyone started heading over for dinner they played one last match. A quick game of poker where the the loser had to make dinner for the table. Winter, Ruby, and Jaune won the first three hands. The final hand went to Neo with a pair of threes to Mercury's nothing King high. He was gambling on a flush he was one card away from having.

The kitchen had been restocked mysteriously, like it had been every other day, with ingredients for their meals. Winter said she'd make her own meal citing concerns of poisoning like she had done this morning. Mercury made chili for the remaining three and himself.

With a full belly and an eased spirit Ruby headed off to bed. It wasn't until she was alone in her room that reality began to creep back into her mind. She sat in her bed looking at the door. There was no lock, and that meant anyone could walk in while she slept. She got up and put her painting in front of the door so if it opened the falling painting would give her a heads up.

She woke the next morning to find the painting where she'd proper it up. She began to hang it back up on the wall when she heard some music. A chime of three happy notes played over the speaker and Ruby dropped the painting. Her heart sank like a stone in her chest. It had been one day.

"A body has been found," Cinder's voice announced through the speaker. "The body of Jaune Arc has been discovered in the meal hall."

PLAYERS STILL ALIVE:

Ruby

Nora

Sun

Neptune

Yatsuhashi

Neo

Mercury

Winter

Blake


	6. Chapter 6

Ruby didn't feel her legs move. She was hardly aware that she was running down the hallway to the meal hall. Without her semblance it felt like she was moving through mud. Her mind raced faster than her legs. It had to be a lie, Jaune couldn't be dead. She denied it; she couldn't have failed another friend.

Ruby threw the door to the meal hall open and stopped dead. She managed to take two steps into the room. Propped up at his usual spot at the usual table was Jaune. His head hung back over the edge of the chair. His legs were sprawled under the table and his arms hung limply at his sides. Next to him, a few feet away, stood Winter and Blake.

"Ruby," Blake said quietly.

"No…" Ruby muttered. "He can't… he isn't…"

Blake turned silently away from her leader. She held her hands tightly in front of herself and looked down. Winter stood a few feet away analyzing the body. One hand was on her chin and that elbow rested on the other arm which was crossed across her chest.

"Jaune!" Nora screamed as she burst into the room.

Nora pushed passed Ruby, knocking her down. Nora made a bee line for her leader and was stopped by Winter. Nora tried to shove her aside, but Winter held fast. Nora looked over Winter's shoulder at her leader. The two struggled against one another.

"You mustn't touch the body," Winter urged. "we haven't looked it over for evidence."

"Jaune!" Nora said again, more ragged as sobs began to enter her voice. "Jaune… No…"

Sun and Neptune followed behind Nora by a matter of moments. Mercury was close behind them with Neo and Yatsuhashi almost immediately after him. Sun went over to Nora and gently pulled her off Winter. Blake and Sun began to talk to her, trying their best to calm her down. Mercury made his way over to Winter and asked if anyone had touched the body, or if this was how it was found. Neo wandered over to Ruby.

 **What happened**? Neo showed her scroll to Ruby.

Ruby was quiet for a moment before saying, "I don't know."

"No one touched the body," Winter said. "I was first to find him. He was like this when I got here."

"Why didn't you get anyone?" Neptune asked.

"I wanted to make sure no one touched the body," Winter said, casting a glance at Nora, "so I stayed and waited for others."

"That makes sense," Mercury said. "Keeping it pristine might help us find more clues."

"Ruby," Winter began, beckoning Ruby over, "can you take notes for Mercury and me again?"

"I… uh…" Ruby hesitated.

Neo tugged at Ruby's sleeve, **I'll take the notes. This might be too personal for you**.

"Neo says, she'll take the notes," Ruby said. "Thanks."

Ruby went over to one of the tables and took a seat facing the scene. Neptune and Yatsuhashi joined her. Blake and Sun had managed to calm Nora down, but now she radiated bloodlust. She stared at the scene with livid eyes stained red from tears.

Winter approached Jaune's body. She shifted his head around and looked over his table. In front of him rested a single sup of coffee. Mercury had gone into the kitchen and was checking it for any traces of evidence.

"It looks like he's been poisoned," Winter said. "Without an autopsy I wouldn't be able to determine the exact target of the poison."

"How do you know its poison?" Ruby asked.

"There doesn't appear to be any struggle and he lacks any sort of fatal injury," Winter analyzed. "The coffee cup is partially empty. I'd guess that was how the poison was administered."

Winter moved away from the body. She stood with her arms crossed looking at the scene again.

"Neptune, Yatsuhashi, go and check the nurse's office," Winter ordered. "There is a cabinet of medications with a inventory on one side. Go see what medication is missing."

"Yes ma'am," Yatsuhashi said.

"Alright," Neptune affirmed.

As the two of them left Mercury returned to the main room. He brought the pot of coffee which was missing half a serving of coffee. He set it down on a table near the scene.

"This is the only thing in there," Mercury said. "No food other food and no missing utensils. None that could be fatal at least."

"Look at his upper lip," Winter said, "its discolored. It looks like the poison caused some sort of skin discoloration on contact. The discoloration in also on his left hand, which is the one he typically holds the cup with."

"Why didn't he spill any?" Mercury asked. "Wouldn't he have noticed the poison?"

"Not if it was fast acting enough," Winter suggested. "Or it was very slow acting… but that doesn't fit the scene. I couldn't have gotten up that much later than him."

Neo showed her scroll to Mercury.

"Neo says that if it discolored Jaune, wouldn't the poison have discolored the attacker?" Mercury said.

"Maybe," Winter said.

"So, we just need to check everyone's hands," Sun said.

"Exactly," Mercury said.

Blake, Sun, and Ruby all stuck out their hands. There was no blue discoloration on any of their hands. Neo took off her gloves to no discoloration. Mercury also removed his gloves and there was no discoloration. Ruby looked to Winter who was staring at her bare hands. Ruby gasped when she saw the tips of her fingers were blue.

"Winter-" Ruby began.

"You bitch!" Nora screamed, jumping up and punching Winter. "You killed Jaune!"

Sun and Blake jumped after Nora and pulled her back.

"Nora calm down!" Sun urged.

"I'll kill you!" Nora yelled. "I'll break your legs! Why the hell would you do this?!"

Winter stumbled, reeling from Nora's punch. She held out a hand defensively and cupped her face with the other. Her nose bled slowly.

"I didn't poison him," Winter said. "I swear I didn't."

"So what? You were framed?" Mercury asked.

Winter grit her teeth, she faced Mercury and said, "Yes, whether you believe it or not."

"So you want us to just take your word for it?" Nora said, she'd stopped trying to advance on Winter but Sun and Blake still held her.

"I'm asking we keep searching for evidence," Winter suggested. "I didn't do it. There should be something to prove that."

"I think we should keep looking for evidence," Ruby said.

"I'm with Ruby," Blake said. "There might be something we missed."

Neptune and Yatsuhashi re-entered at this moment. The two stopped short when they saw the divided room, a bleeding Winter, and a restrained Nora. Neptune slowly raised a piece of paper.

"There was more than one thing missing from the nurse's office," Neptune said.

"Clue one," Winter said. "I'm a chemistry expert, why would I take more than the chemical I need?"

"Maybe to cover your tracks?" Mercury suggested. "Make it harder for those of us without a background in chemistry to figure out what poison you used."

"Yeah," Nora agreed.

"We are being too hasty," Yatsuhashi said. "We only have one investigation, I do not want to make a mistake."

Mercury huffed before saying, "Fine, but on one condition. Winter can't do the investigation. She might try and make up clues or steer the investigation."

 **That doesn't sound bad** , Neo typed on her scroll.

"I guess," Nora said.

"I can get behind that," Sun said.

"Since it was my proposal, I'll keep an eye on our suspect," Mercury said.

"You should help look for evidence," Ruby said. "You were really helpful finding clues on Adam."

"Yeah, but I still think Winter did it," Mercury said. "We have her blue handed. If you can find something to disprove me, go ahead."

"We're losing time," Yatsuhashi said. "Let us look over the missing chemicals."

"I'll help," Blake said.

"Me too," Neptune agreed.

"I'll keep an eye on things here," Sun said. "Nora, could you help me?"

"Sure," Nora said.

 **I'll help you Ruby** , Neo typed on her scroll.

The group began to head out before Mercury called out, "Ruby, don't look for clues that aren't there."

"I won't," Ruby returned.

The five of them made their way to the library. There were seven missing chemicals, one of which was Tylenol so they ruled it out immediately since there was no way it could do any of this. They each grabbed any and every book they could find on chemistry and biology. Neo was designated as the person to write notes on what each chemical did to a person. Time was not on their side as they flipped through text books of information.

"Dedrazin…. Dedrazin…" Ruby muttered as she flipped through one her books.

"I found it," Blake said. "'Kyptalithamin is a complex chemical founded in'… yeah, yeah, uh… 'when introduced to human biology it can cause shortness of breath and lightheadedness. In high quantities it has a spicy taste but can also result in asphyxiation if ingested in such quantities.' The rest of the passage is common application."

"I found Wesipium," Neptune said. "It probably wasn't it. According to this the most common use is as a laxative."

"Polophosphrus," Yatsuhashi began, "is an emergency medication administered by injection. It causes a rapid increase to blood flow in patients. If used in healthy patients can result in burst capillaries and… and even death. Injection sites are prone to discoloration."

"Dedrazin…" Ruby muttered, continuing her own search.

"I got another," Blake said. "Gavamest is a synthetic anti-biotic. It is used as a base for many experimental vaccinations in recent years. Side effects thus far have proved nonlethal and range from… I guess it isn't important if it's non-lethal."

"Lithiburic," Neptune said, "is an uncommon painkiller, due to great variation in side effects and very dangerous allergic reactions. Reactions include, in order of appearance, rash, heart pains, and shortness of breath. Consult a doctor if you experience any of these after exposure because it can escalate to heart failure."

The group looked to Ruby, who was still struggling to find her chemical.

"Ruby?" Blake ventured.

"Does Dedrazin even exist?" Ruby said.

"Uh… the list says **Den** drazin," Neptune corrected.

"Oh," Ruby said sheepishly. "That… is… uh… right here. Dendrazin, a dangerous chemical if not handled with care. Ingestion of this leads to… rapid heart failure. When exposed to stimulants, such as caffeine, it… oh…"

"What?" Blake asked.

"When exposed to things like caffeine it causes skin to turn blue," Ruby finished.

The small tune indicating time had expired chimed. Ruby closed her book and got up. Her mind was racing through the evidence. So much pointed to Winter. She'd be sure Winter looked the new findings over on the elevator ride. She might see something that proved what she said.

"The elevator has arrived," Cinder said over the intercom. "You know where to go."

PLAYERS STILL ALIVE:

Ruby

Nora

Sun

Neptune

Yatsuhashi

Neo

Mercury

Winter

Blake


	7. Chapter 7

The trial room was the same as Ruby remembered; a circle of lecterns with names indicating who went where. The difference was one of the lecterns had been relabeled with Blake's name and a new empty lectern had Jaune's name on it. A lump formed in Ruby's throat as she saw the empty lectern. She exhaled and composed herself behind her own lectern.

"The trial today is to determine the killer of a Jaune Arc," Cinder announced to the group.

"Is it really necessary?" Mercury asked. "After all we caught someone blue handed."

"I already said I didn't do it," Winter retorted.

"With. What. Evidence?" Mercury said, emphasizing each word.

"Ruby," Sun began, "what did you guys get from the missing chemicals?"

"Well, there were seven missing ones," Ruby said. "There were a few that could've killed him."

"Specifically," Blake continued, "Dendrazin, Polophosphorus, and Lithiburic all had fast acting and lethal side effects."

"Yeah, and only one of them would discolor the skin," Ruby said. "Dendrazin causes rapid heart failure and blue skin."

"That's not all," Winter interjected. "It only causes skin discoloration in stimulants."

"So?" Nora asked.

"I know that," Winter said. "If I knew my hands would get discolored wouldn't I have worn gloves?"

"Maybe it soaked through," Mercury suggested.

"I wouldn't have worn my usual gloves," Winter countered. "I know they're not water proof, so I'd have worn something to keep the poison from incriminating me. Someone must've put some of the poison on my gloves while I slept. I don't think twice before I put them on in the morning."

"That's a pretty convenient excuse," Mercury said.

There was some nodding heads and soft affirmations. Then Ruby realized something.

"Wait!" Ruby said. "The poison only discolors skin when exposed to caffeine right?"

"Yes," Winter said.

"So, when would Winter have had to have mixed the poison?" Ruby lead everyone. "When you make drip coffee the grounds with the caffeine aren't liquid. You pour hot water through the grounds to get the caffeine out."

"I don't understand," Sun said.

"So, when would Winter have discolored herself?" Ruby asked. "If she put the poison in the water to drip she wouldn't have affected her skin. Same if she'd put it directly on the ground, the poison wouldn't have reacted without the water. She'd have had to put the poison directly into Jaune's cup as he was drinking it to discolor her hands."

"You're right," Winter said.

"So, she added it and made him drink it," Mercury said.

"No, there was no sign of a struggle," Neptune said. "He drank it without knowing it was poisoned."

"I dunno," Sun said. "It sounds pretty circumstantial. Like, what if she slipped it in while he wasn't looking?"

"That's just as likely as anyone else slipping him a poison," Neptune said.

"Yeah," Ruby said, "All we can do is say that Winter having blue on her hands isn't as strong evidence that she did it like we first thought."

"That creates a problem," Blake said. "If we ignore skin discoloration as a clue then any one of the other poisons could've been used."

"That's not true," Winter said. "The other two you listed were Polophosphorus and Lithiburic right?"

"Yeah," Ruby said.

"Polophosphorus causes rapid increase in blood flow," Winter began. "If Jaune, a perfectly healthy young man, had that in his system his capillaries would've burst."

"How do we know they didn't?" Nora asked.

"There are capillaries in your nose," Winter said, gesturing. "Had Jaune had Polophosphorus his nose would've been red from the burst capillaries."

"So why isn't it the other… uh Lithbu-whatever?" Sun asked.

"Lithiburic only causes fatal allergic reactions," Winter said.

"Jaune's allergic to so much, he could've been allergic to that," Nora said.

"Lithiburic reactions include rash, had he had a reaction his body would've had a rash all over," Winter said.

"That means we're back to the original poison," Mercury said. "Not looking too good for you Ice Queen."

"We also need to consider someone trying to frame Winter," Blake proposed. "We can't prove it was Winter on the evidence we have, but we also can't prove it was anyone else."

Ruby furrowed her brow. There must be something they'd overlooked. She thought over the scene. Jaune's discolored hands and lip. The coffee pot had a cup poured. The seven missing chemicals. Did any of it prove anything? Was this going to turn into a guessing game?

"The coffee pot," Ruby muttered. "The… coffee… How much coffee was poured from the pot?"

"What?" Sun and Nora sked in unison.

"Mercury, how much coffee was poured from the pot?" Ruby asked.

"One cup, why is that important?" he responded.

"Specifically, was it from the twelve cups marker to the ten cups or was it halfway in between?" Ruby pushed.

"Halfway," Mercury said.

"Why would he pour half a cup?" Blake asked aloud, as realization dawned on her face.

"Half a cup?" Nora asked.

"Ruby, that's genius," Blake said.

"If you pour a full cup of coffee it takes two cups from the pot," Ruby said. "The marks on the pot aren't accurate measuring a drinking cup, but are for a measuring cup. Jaune's cup he was drinking from was only half full. If we assume the coffee pot is designed like most pots then the missing amount of coffee accounts for only the coffee in his cup. Which means Jaune didn't drink any of the coffee."

Everyone stood in silence for a couple seconds processing this revelation.

"That's a bit of a shaky claim," Sun said. "I mean, we can't prove it from here, but I see what you mean."

"So if Jaune didn't drink that coffee, he was set-up to look like he had?" Nora asked. "Why?"

"To throw us off," Winter said. "The actual poison wasn't necessarily fast acting. Jaune was poisoned overnight and moved before morning."

"Doesn't that mean two people had found body by the time Winter got to breakfast?" Blake asked. "It shouldn't have needed me for the alert, right?"

"Let me interrupt briefly," Cinder suddenly came through the speaker. "You can use fake evidence whenever you want, but you aren't allowed to lie about the rules. Let me make it perfectly clear. Two people need to have found the body. However, if the killer is still setting things up to frame someone they do not count as someone who found the body. Also, if someone finds the body, leaves it, and no one comes across the body for over an hour the discovery period is reset. Continue your discussion."

"So that means someone could've moved Jaune's body even if he'd died somewhere else," Neptune said.

"Who else would've had the chance to poison Jaune?" Nora asked.

Ruby thought for a moment before saying, "Mercury."

"Me?" Mercury asked.

"You made us dinner the night before Jaune died," Ruby said.

"Wouldn't that have poisoned all of us?" Mercury retorted. "Come one Red, you're better than that."

"It's Ruby, and I am," Ruby said. "There was another lethal poison on the list: Dendrazin. It's a slow acting poison that causes asphyxiation in large quantities. It also has a spicy taste in amounts that big, and you fed us chili. Who would've questioned eating spicy chili? Certainly not Jaune."

"I'm gonna ask it again, when would I have poisoned him but not everyone?" Mercury asked. "Kinda hard to poison one bowl of chili without being noticed. Second, I'm not good at chemistry, we saw that when we played Trivial Pursuit. How would I have picked the right poison and enough others to put the blame on the Ice Queen?"

Ruby felt a tug at her sleeve, **Mercury used to be an assassin**.

"Neo say you used to be an assassin," Ruby said. "What kind of assassin doesn't know a poison or two?"

"One who fights his targets," Mercury said, glaring at Neo.

"I'd call that a thug," Sun said.

"You watch it monkey boy," Mercury said.

"So we have two equally circumstantial suspects," Blake said. "Winter, the specialist with blue hands both proving and disproving her innocence. Or Mercury, the assassin with a chance to have killed but no solid evidence to prove it."

"Well put Blake," Cinder came through the speaker. "I think it's about time we put it to a vote. You all remember the rules. One vote each, twenty seconds to decide, and no vote means no killer."

Ruby's lectern lit up with the revised list of names. She glanced between Winter and Mercury. She wasn't entirely sure, but she wasn't about to let Jaune's killer walk free. She took a deep breath and went with Mercury. It felt more like something he'd do than Winter. Ruby prayed she wasn't wrong.

"That's it," Cinder said. "All votes in. We have one abstain."

The monitor displayed the word "abstain" with a single one next to it.

"Three votes Winter," Cinder said.

Winter's name appeared and a three was next to it.

"And five votes Mercury," Cinder said.

A tune played. Ruby saw Mercury had his head hung and was gripping his lectern so tightly she thought it was going to break.

"Congratulations," Cinder announced. "Mercury was indeed the killer. He poisoned Mister Arc's with the chili and moved his body a few hours later. He then set up the other poison and made sure to spill some on Mister Arc's hands and lip. He then went and put a little on Winter's gloves in an attempt to convict her. You all, or at least most, saw through it though."

"Goddamn it!" Mercury screamed.

It was happening again. A chain flew from the ceiling and grabbed Mercury by the legs. He was fast, and to everyone's surprise disconnected his legs from the rest of his body. He fell back into the center of the circle of lecterns.

"You're not taking me that easily," Mercury said.

He tried to climb away. No one moved to help him, most moved away from their lecterns. Ruby saw panic in his eyes and a sense of pure rage behind that. He wasn't fast enough, another chain dropped and wrapped around his chest. He was gone in seconds.

Mercury appeared on the screen. He was in a large and empty space that was gray as far as the eye could see. Fog rolled around the edges of the monitor screen. Mercury had landed right next to his detached legs, and was quickly attempting to reattach them.

"Mercury!" a girl's voice cried through the nothing. "Mercury!"

"It's not real," Mercury muttered to himself.

A dozen shadowy men appeared from the fog. The slowly advanced towards Mercury who had managed to put one leg back on. He kicked and fired a shot at one of the men. The being burst into a puff of smoke.

"Always trying to kill your dad huh?" the smoke man said.

"I killed you!" Mercury yelled. "You aren't real. Cinder! Get out here!"

"Just 'cause I'm dead doesn't make me not a threat," the voices said in unison.

They lunged at Mercury. He kicked and fought away the smoke beings. All the while he worked on getting his leg back on. Eventually he managed to get both legs back on.

"You're gonna have to do better than that Cinder," Mercury yelled. "I'm not afraid of you elementary psychology bullshit. I'm not afraid to kill my old man."

"What about us?" a new voice asked.

The fog was reforming itself into Emerald. There were dozens of her emerging from just beyond view. Mercury looked a little more hesitant at the sight of her.

"I don't care," Mercury said, raising his fists.

"You care enough," One of the fog Emerald's said.

Then they lunged at him. A couple screamed his name in agony as he fought them. Ruby saw his face grimace and twist in anger with each Emerald he struck down. This went on for a few minutes with everyone in the trial room watching in silence. Then one more Emerald emerged from the smoke.

"Mercury, please," was all it said.

"You aren't real," was all Mercury replied.

"It's a trap Mercury," Emerald said. "Cinder set us up."

Emerald collapsed to one knee. Mercury was panting intensely and wiping sweat from his brow.

"We aren't going to kill each other," Emerald said. "The fog is."

"Shit…" Mercury said, before his knees buckled. "You couldn't have told me before?"

"Shut up… It's your fault… we're in… this…" Emerald said between breaths.

"Worst… hostage…ever…" Mercury said, and stopped moving.

Ruby didn't look away. She'd voted for this to happen. This was her fault. She heard the elevator open. She didn't want to know who lese had to play this game with them. It would break her heart to turn and see one of Jaune's sisters or parents or classmate.

"Oh my," came a too familiar voice.

Ruby didn't turn. She clenched her fists and cursed Cinder. The voice belonged to the last person Ruby expected and one of the people she'd never want to see here.

"Ruby?" the voice asked tentatively.

"Not now, Pyrrha," Ruby said. "I have questions, but I need a moment."

PLAYERS STILL ALIVE:

Ruby

Nora

Sun

Neptune

Yatsuhashi

Neo

Winter

Blake

Pyrrha


	8. Chapter 8

Everyone had slowly made their way onto the elevator. There was still silence as they reconciled they death of Mercury and the revival of Pyrrha. It felt surreal to Ruby. There was no doubt in her mind Pyrrha had died, and she'd been getting so close to accepting that loss. Now Pyrrha was standing not two feet from her.

"How are you alive?" Ruby finally asked. "I saw you… saw you…"

"I don't know," Pyrrha admitted. "I know Cinder hit me with the arrow. I felt it pierce me, but somehow I didn't die."

"You faded to dust," Ruby said. "The arrow had gone clear through you."

"When the arrow hit me, I think I went into shock," Pyrrha recalled. "My body felt numb. I couldn't think of anything other than the pain in my chest. There were also…"

Pyrrha trailed off. No one pushed her. Ruby was still lost in a sea of confusion. Where had Pyrrha been? How could Cinder have gotten her out of there? Where could they have stored Pyrrha until now? Why fake her death when they could simply kidnap her like they did with everyone else?

"Are we dead?" Neptune suddenly asked.

"What do you mean?" Sun asked.

"Are we already dead?" Neptune repeated. "Is this hell? There's no way this whole 'game' is real, right? I mean, we've got such an assortment of people in here. Atlas spec ops, assassins, and huntsmen. I mean, fuck, we've got the 'invincible girl' who we all know is dead here as well. There's no way this can be real. Are these games some sort of punishment?"

"Nep, don't think like that," Sun said.

"Why not?" Neptune said, backing towards a corner of the elevator. "How could Cinder get all of us? We're Huntsmen after all. Isn't it more likely we died or something? We all died like Pyrrha and this 'game' is our punishment. No one said we were the good guys when we killed all those Grimm."

"No," Pyrrha interjected. "We aren't dead."

"How do you know?" Neptune said, panic creeping into his voice.

"After I was shot I was taken to a place," Pyrrha explained. "The place where Grimm are… made, for lack of a better word. I was taken by Cinder to be recruited. They wanted me to be a part of something bigger and so much worse than this 'game.' I have seen Hell, and this bunker isn't it."

"Where Grimm are made?" Blake asked. "What do you mean?"

"A large canyon – "Pyrrha began.

"Tut, tut now," Cinder's voice came through the speaker. "Not another word. If you tell them anything more about the Grimm I'll have to execute you."

"So I'm supposed to leave them in the dark?" Pyrrha asked.

"If you want to live, yes," Cinder replied nonchalantly.

The elevator came to a rest at the top. The doors parted into the meal hall and everyone made their way off. Pyrrha's shoulders had slumped. Ruby was more curious than she'd ever been. This was news, of a place that made Grimm, could potentially be the end of humanities struggle. If they could find this place and destroy it, no one else would have to die. Ruby vowed to herself that she'd get Pyrrha out of this game.

The next morning came by before Ruby even realized. Once Pyrrha had been silenced yesterday by Cinder the day settled into the norm. Nora gave Pyrrha the tour of the compound. Ruby and Blake tagged along. Sun, Neptune, Yatsuhashi, and Neo went to train in the Gym. Winter had gone off to the Library alone. It was an unspoken rule that no one would commit a crime the same day as a trial, so no one was particularly worried about their own safety.

Ruby got out of bed and dressed herself. Despite the shower her clothes had begun to stink. It had been about a week of the same outfit each day with no washer or spare clothes. She put it on anyway and headed over to the meal hall. She passed by Adam's former room; it had been relabeled for Blake. When the trial had ended his body and all the evidence of crime had been removed. Ruby knew someone, or a group, was very close while watching them and if they could get in to clean up then everyone in here could get out.

Without Jaune, Ruby was the second person to breakfast preceded only by Winter. She sat at her usual table and nodded to Ruby when she entered. Ruby went to the kitchen to grab some milk. She saw the coffee maker out of the corner of her eye and felt her stomach sink. It was going to be a long time before she'd stop associating coffee with her dead friends.

When Ruby reentered the meal hall she noticed Winter was waving her over. Ruby paused for a split second before going over. She took a seat with Winter.

"Thank you for yesterday," Winter said. "You helped prove my innocence."

"It was nothing," Ruby replied. "It's what anyone would've done."

"Except it wasn't," Winter corrected. "Not everyone worked as hard as you did to prove my innocence. If not for you and everyone who went to the library Mercury might've gotten away with it."

Ruby was silent before saying, "This game is starting to break people."

"It is," Winter agreed. "I do hope you and that Pyrrha girl make it out of this."

"Why us? We should all get out of here," Ruby said.

"In a perfect world, I agree we should all escape," Winter said. "However, this is not a perfect world. Like Neptune said yesterday, this is more akin to hell than reality."

"We'll find a way out," Ruby assured.

"Do you ever wonder why Cinder chose the people she did?" Winter asked.

Ruby realized she hadn't. She'd been focused either on escape or solving murder mysteries. The idea of why Cinder would do this hadn't yet crossed her mind.

"The silver eyed warrior who single handedly took down the Grimm Dragon," Winter said. "The invincible girl so unstoppable she can even survive death. Adam Taurus, a leading figure in the White Fang movement who rallied the Vale division after Torchwick's debacle. Do you see a pattern here? Cinder picked people who mean something to the world. Mercury, as far as the world knows him, is the boy who made it to the Vytal Finals only to have his leg shattered by an overzealous Beacon representative."

"Why would she do that?" Ruby asked.

"It's only a theory," Winter said, "but I think she intends to repair the Beacon CCT and broadcast this game. Watching heroes slaughter innocents, or be slaughtered by innocents, would sow even more despair than what she did during the Vytal Tournament. You and Pyrrha need to survive, to escape as beacons of hope against Cinder."

"I won't kill anyone," Ruby said firmly.

"Which is why Cinder picked you," Winter said, taking a sip of her coffee. "On another note, it would be in your best interest to work with me. My hostage is of interest to the both of us."

"What are you saying?" Ruby asked.

"If you won't play with me, I'll play against you," Winter said menacingly. "Cinder was very smart in picking a hostage that would motivate us, even once I figured out her end game I'd still kill to save my hostage. I'd hate to play right into her hands."

Nora walked into the meal hall with Pyrrha close behind. Winter went back to drinking her coffee without another word. Ruby felt dread creeping in as she realized there was more to the game than just killing.

Neptune and Sun were the last two to breakfast. Yatsuhashi had made breakfast for everyone. Nora and Ruby were updating Pyrrha on the rules of the game.

"Guys," Sun said when he got there, "The second area is open."

"What?" Nora asked.

"That area that we couldn't reach earlier is open," Sun said. "We gotta look around there today."

"Should we split into team again?" Winter asked.

"It'd be safer that way," Yatsuhashi said.

"There are nine of us," Nora said. "There's going to be a team of three again."

"Do we even need to draw lots now that Adam isn't here?" Neptune asked. "I mean, we only did that last time because we all knew he was going to be the first killer."

"Neptune and I'll will be Team Detectives!" Sun announced.

"Why not Sea Monkeys?" Neptune asked.

"Nah man, we're Junior Detectives," Sun replied, "That's way cooler."

"We didn't agree to picking teams," Blake said.

"You want to join us Blake?" Sun asked. "We'll be team… hm… Team Detectives still works."

"Blake was never an official Junior Detective though," Neptune protested.

"Pyrrha and I will be a team," Nora said, her eyes lighting up as she slammed her hands on the table. "Team Lightning Rod!"

"Why are we lightning rod?" Pyrrha asked.

"You do that thing with the magnets and I make lightning," Nora said.

"So that leaves Winter, Ruby, Neo, and me," Yatsuhashi said.

"I'll go with Neo," Ruby said quickly. She didn't want to go with Winter after this morning's conversation and Neo was right next to her.

"Then I will go with Winter," Yatsuhashi said.

"Fine," winter said. "Are there any objections to these teams?"

No one protested, and they all set off to the new section of the compound.

The investigations didn't take long at all. They'd split into four teams and only found four new rooms. Neo and Ruby had investigated an art supply room complete with a couple stone slabs and chisels. There were plenty of art supplies from water colours to stickers to canvases. Not much in the way of weapons other than the chisels. They could help get out of the compound, but at a very slow rate. The rooms everyone else found were of more interest.

Sun, Neptune, and Blake had found an arcade full of classic games. It was small with somewhere around fifteen of the big, old fashioned style gaming setups that Ruby remembers Qrow telling her about. Again, there wasn't much in terms of weapons or tools to escape.

Yatsuhashi and Winter had found something everyone had been hoping for: spare clothes. There was a small department store in this section of the compound. It had various clothes and PJs. The draw back was none of the clothes matched their own personal fashion. Ruby couldn't find her red skirt or hood anywhere in the store; which meant if her hood tore there'd be no replacing it.

Nora and Pyrrha had the most interesting, and dangerous, find of the groups. They'd found a weapon collection. Weapons like swords and spears aligned the walls and the center had more dazzling weapons on display. Ruby was drawn to the scythe perched on a mannequin in the center of the room. She was about to grab it but remembered the situation.

"Guys," Ruby said. "We need to agree now, no one touches the weapons."

"That makes sense," Sun said. "This could prove dangerous."

"You forget," Winter said, "we could use these to dig our way out of the compound."

Yatsuhashi grabbed one of the axes from the wall. It was a massive battle axe almost as big as he was. No one moved, but no one tensed up; he wasn't' about to attack anyone with all these witnesses. He instead made his way to the far wall and swung with all his might against the compound's wall. The axe sparked as it skid across the surface, but upon looking at the wall there wasn't so much as a scratch. Yatsuhashi calmly replaced the axe where he'd found it.

"Those walls won't break to weapons like these," Yatsuhashi said. "They did not even make a scratch."

"So there's really no hope of escape?" Neptune asked.

"Not like this," Yatsuhashi replied.

"Not at all," Blake muttered. "There's nothing else to this compound. If these weapons can't get us out, then what can?"

"There has to be a way," Ruby said. "Someone comes in here when we go to the trial. Someone cleans up the murder scenes."

"You're right," Sun said. "Also there had to be some way to get us into this compound, right?"

"Unless the sealed the cleanup crew in here with us," Blake said.

"Wouldn't we smell the old bodies?" Winter asked. "This compound isn't infinite. We need to find an escape or make one. The arcade is our best bet. I could make a bomb from whatever they're using to power the games."

"Aw, but they've got Super Michael Bros," Sun said.

"Do you want to play games or get out?" Winter asked.

"I was kidding," Sun said. "It wasn't even the best game ever."

"I'll get started on a bomb," Winter said. "Yatsuhashi, I'd like you to stand guard while I work so I can focus completely on the bomb."

"I will," Yatsuhashi agreed.

"Everyone else, you're free to do as you please," Winter said. "I should have a working bomb within the week."

PLAYERS STILL ALIVE:

Ruby

Nora

Sun

Neptune

Yatsuhashi

Neo

Winter

Blake

Pyrrha


	9. Chapter 9

Winter had been working on the make shift bomb for two days. She asked that everyone do something not near the arcade because she didn't want any distractions. It made sense, even the smallest issue could prove lethal when building a bomb. Yatsuhashi stayed as a personal bodyguard for Winter while everyone else went off and did something else.

This morning Neo and Blake had gone to the Library to do some reading. Sun and Nora went to the Gym to spar. The two of them and Neptune could usually be found in the gym either relaxing or practicing combat. Today, however, Neptune was tagging along with Pyrrha and Ruby to the art room since he'd sprained his leg the day before.

"What are you going to paint Neptune?" Pyrrha asked.

"Not sure," he replied. "I don't paint much so I'll start with something simple."

"I'm going to draw Zwei," Ruby said. "He's always so fun to draw."

They got to the arts room and set up some easels. It was a slow going day. Every day felt slower to Ruby. Part of her was on edge, waiting for Winter to finalize a bomb that could get them out of this compound. Every minute she spent thinking about it felt like a year, so she was doing her best to distract herself.

"Ruby?" Pyrrha asked tentatively.

"Huh?" Ruby replied.

She looked over to her friend who was sketching the outline of a face. Neptune was next to her scribbling away with some water colors.

"Are you alright?" Pyrrha sked.

Ruby looked at her canvas propped on her easel. It was still blank and Ruby realized she'd spaced out thinking about the game.

"Oh, I couldn't think of what to draw," Ruby lied.

"I thought you were going to draw Zwei?" Neptune said.

"I decided not to," Ruby said. "My last picture of him was his butt, and I don't think I can top that."

Pyrrha and Neptune snickered before returning to their own pictures. Ruby grabbed a paintbrush and began to dab it in the red paint. Her arm was moving on instinct and after a few strokes Ruby realized what she was painting. As crude as it was she recognized her mind had begun painting Crescent Rose. She exhaled deeply as another worry forced its way to the front of her mind: what happened to their weapons?

"We'll get them back Ruby," Pyrrha said, as if reading her mind.

Ruby turned to Pyrrha and frowned. Pyrrha was drawing Jaune, and unlike Ruby's painting hers was very accurate and detailed. The painting was smiling that stupid smile he always got when making a plan. Ruby's gut clenched and she felt sick.

"I'm sorry," Ruby whispered.

"It's not your fault," Pyrrha replied. "Don't ever blame yourself for what happens in this 'game.' Promise me that."

Ruby looked Pyrrha in the eyes before saying, "I promise."

Pyrrha and Ruby smiled at one another.

"I feel pretty out of place," Neptune suddenly said.

"Oh no, your fine Neptune," Pyrrha apologized.

"More with the paintings," Neptune said.

He turned his easel to face them. Neptune had drawn blue and yellow stick figures in front of a big explosion. Around it was black chunks and an angry red stick figure. Ruby looked closer at the details of the stick figures and realized it was supposed to be Neptune, Sun, and Cinder. She couldn't help but laugh.

"Neptune, what are those?" Ruby squealed.

"I drew an action scene, but I forgot I can't draw people," he defended.

"I think it perfect," A voice added.

Everyone turned to see Nora in the doorway. Her hair was matted down from water and she was wearing her post-workout clothes. She was smiling at the three of them.

"You guys want some lunch?" Nora asked.

Ruby checked the clock in the art room and saw they'd been here for about two hours. It was almost one in the afternoon. This made Ruby very aware of how hungry she was.

She leaned back in her chair moaning, "Ugh, I'm starving."

"Sun went ahead after our workout to make some lunch," Nora said. "I came to get y'all."

"Let's go," Pyrrha said.

Nora looked at Pyrrha's painting and Ruby saw her frown. She quickly put on a smile before Pyrrha noticed. It was a short walk to the meal hall from the art room. When they got there no one else was there.

"Hey, where's Sun?" Neptune asked when he noticed.

"He said he was going to head over once he changed," Nora said, looking around.

"How long ago was that?" Neptune asked nervously.

"Uh, about twenty, maybe twenty five minutes ago?" Nora said.

"That's too long," Neptune said. "I'm going to go check on him."

"I'll go with you," Pyrrha offered.

"He's probably in the men's changing room," Neptune said.

"We still shouldn't go anywhere alone," Pyrrha countered.

"Fine, let's go," Neptune said.

The two left the meal hall going at a light jog. Nora and Ruby waited for what felt like an eternity. Ruby heard a scream, very distantly. Her body froze and her heart sank like a stone. It wasn't a scream of pain, but anguish. Ruby saw Nora freeze in place when they heard the scream. Not a moment later three cheery notes played.

"A body has been found," Cinder said. "Sun Wukong has been found dead in the Men's Locker Room."

PLAYERS STILL ALIVE:

Ruby

Nora

Neptune

Yatsuhashi

Neo

Winter

Blake

Pyrrha


	10. Chapter 10

This one was different. Adam had been bludgeoned but not to the point of disfigurement. Jaune had been propped up after being poisoned. Sun had been skewered. A rapier protruded from his chest and it kept him slightly propped into a sitting position. His body had been slashed easily over a hundred times from head to toe and blood had streamed from the wounds. His disfigured corpse was almost floating in the pool of blood it had made.

Ruby couldn't look away and felt herself ready to throw up. Pyrrha was holding Neptune who'd collapsed just at the edge of the aisle of lockers. He was kneeling and bawling uncontrollably. Ruby was too stunned to hear his screams of anguish. She knew the others were coming. She wanted someone, anyone, to pull her away from this scene. A soft hand touched her shoulder. Ruby turned to see Yatsuhashi. He knew what Ruby wanted and guided her to a different aisle of lockers.

Without the body taking up her vision Ruby began to feel her senses returning. She noticed Nora in the aisle of lockers bent over a small pool of vomit. It was too much, Ruby bent over and vomited. The image of Sun was burned into her mind and it kept turning her stomach. She felt Yatsuhashi gently petting her back trying to comfort her. Blake had gone over to help out Nora.

Ruby eventually regained her composure. Neptune's screams had died down to hoarse moans. Ruby was also becoming aware of Winter who was already analyzing the scene. Ruby was thankful she was doing that. They were on a timetable whether she wanted to admit it or not. Ruby waved Yatsuhashi away and moved back to the aisle with Sun's body.

Seeing the scene revived her sickness. However there was nothing left in her to vomit. She was now focused on the scene. A part of her was making her look for any clues that could implicate the killer.

"What do you have so far?" Ruby asked.

"Neo's been taking the notes while you… gathered yourself," Winter said.

Neo nodded solemnly and handed the scroll of notes over to Ruby. The list was short so far.

"'Rapier stabbed directly through heart,'" Ruby recited from the list. "'Such wound would cause near instant death. Multiple lacerations on victim's body. Number of lacerations indicate some applied post-mortem. Scratch marks and bashed in damage on adjacent lockers to the body. Residual shoe imprints in blood.' Another case where the shoes are important?"

"Yes," Winter said. "Unfortunately I can't get much about the shoes. The flow of the blood has ruined specific details like shoe size."

Ruby looked around the scene. Winter was using her thermometer to gauge when Sun approximately died. That would give them a time frame for alibis and possible cleanup of the crime. Ruby took a closer look at the damaged lockers. She noticed there were faint dirt imprints of shoes on the lockers.

"Winter," Ruby said. "The shoes are also on the lockers."

"Really?" Winter said.

"Yeah, but it's very faint," Ruby said.

"One second," Winter said. "Alright, time of death was roughly thirty minutes ago. Let me see those shoe marks."

Winter leaned in closely to the imprints. She nodded slowly and checked the other lockers for more imprints.

"It looks like there were sneakers, most likely belonging to the victim, and heels, which probably belonged to the assailant," Winter observed. "I also noticed that the victim's jaw has been dislocated."

"What's that mean?" Ruby asked.

"I don't know," Winter said. "Either they fought with fists before the assailant drew their weapon, or it happened during the fight. It's too uncertain."

"It also looks like the blood is only near the body," Blake said, suddenly behind Ruby.

"Dust!" Ruby exclaimed. "Don't scare me."

"Sorry," Blake said.

Ruby looked at the scene again. It's true, there was a lot of blood, but it was all near Sun's body.

"So the fight was limited to this area," Winter concluded.

"Why?" Blake asked. "Sun didn't even need to fight his attacker did he? He could've run."

"But it appears he didn't," Winter said.

"Do you know who did it?" Ruby asked.

"We need to get alibis," Winter said. "We should also look for bloody clothes. The assailant couldn't have done this without getting blood on themselves."

Ruby walked away from the scene towards the others. They'd moved an aisle of lockers over. Pyrrha was holding a still Neptune and whispering comforting words to him. Nora sat on the ground with her knees brought in close and her arms crossed. Yatsuhashi was pacing slowly back and forth. Winter, Blake, and Neo were behind her.

"Guys," Ruby addressed the group. "We need to figure out where everyone was within the last fifty minutes."

"You, me, and Neptune were in the art room all morning," Pyrrha said.

"I was watching Winter work on the bomb all morning," Yatsuhashi said.

"I was focused mostly on the bomb," Winter said, "but I don't think Yatsuhashi went far."

"I was sparring with Sun," Nora said. "He said he was gonna make some lunch and I should get Pyrrha, Neptune, and Ruby. It was about fifteen minutes of getting changed and showering before I headed over to the art room. So I think that makes twenty five minutes before I realized he wasn't in the meal hall."

"I was in the Library," Blake said. "I headed over with Neo, but we went to different parts of the Library."

Ruby felt Neo tug her sleeve. She'd typed, **I was on the upper floor reading and Blake was on the lower floor. I'm not sure she was there the whole time.**

"It seems like the only people without solid alibis are Blake, Neo, and Nora," Winter concluded.

"Me?" Nora asked surprised.

"No one can confirm your whereabouts," Winter said. "That makes you a suspect."

"I… I guess," Nora admitted.

"We need to look for the assailants outfit," Winter said. "It is highly improbable they could've done this without getting blood on their outfit. Now that we have spare clothes it won't be as simple as with Coco. I suggest we split up as time is running out. Ruby, Blake, you two will check the changing rooms. Yatsuhashi, Neo, you two will check everyone's rooms. Don't skip Sun's room just because he's gone. Pyrrha, Neptune, check the supply room. Nora and I will check the spare clothes room. Everyone understand?"

"Why aren't we checking every room?" Nora asked.

"The assailant could've only hidden it in these rooms because we were all in the other ones until recently," Winter said.

"Oh, I get it," Nora said.

Ruby and Blake went into the girls changing room. Blake had gotten the master key for all the lockers. Ruby had waited by the first locker in the lineup for Blake. They then began checking each locker one by one. For the most part the lockers were empty. There were only six girls left and dozens of lockers to be used. If the attacker got lucky Blake and Ruby might not be able to check all the lockers in the remaining time.

"Ruby," Blake said, "you know it wasn't me, right?"

Blake pulled the locker open to reveal it too was empty. The next locker in the lineup was unlabeled. Again when they opened it they found nothing.

"I don't want to," Ruby said, "but I also didn't suspect Coco."

"I heard Coco's was an accident," Blake replied, flustered. "This… this was sick."

Blake's hands had started shaking which made it difficult for her to open the locks. She took a deep breath to steady her hands. She opened yet another empty locker.

"Sun was close to me," Blake said. "There were times I wanted to hit him, but this is wrong. It makes me sick."

"I know," Ruby said.

They came across the locker Nora had chosen to be hers. They opened it. Inside were some workout clothes. Blake bent in close and sniffed. Recoiling she nodded the clothes had been recently worked out in. They picked them up and looked them over for blood stains and found none. Returning them they locked the locker again.

"You've done a good job as detective Ruby," Blake continued. "Promise me you'll catch this one."

"I was planning to," Ruby said.

"I know you are, but… but I'm afraid," Blake said. "Mercury nearly got away with it."

They got to Blake's locker. Inside were her lightly used workout clothes. Ruby picked them up and checked them for blood. When she found none she put them back.

"I don't want Sun's killer to get away," Blake finished her thought. "This investigation seems too uncertain."

"Whoever did it absolutely planned it," Ruby said.

They got to Neo's locker. Inside was some workout clothes and something else. On one of her shelves was a black bowler hat with a red band around it. Ruby and Blake made eye contact; they both knew it looked exactly like Torchwick's hat. Ruby picked it up while Blake checked the clothes. Ruby found the hat was unused and still had the price tag all the spare clothes in the compound had. Blake put the clothes back and shook her head about the blood. Ruby also returned the hat, guessing it was a personal reminder.

They made their way down the rows of lockers continuously turning up nothing. They eventually reached the last locker to find it was also empty. None of the lockers had bloody clothes in them. Ruby checked to see they'd spent thirty minutes finding nothing. Ruby waited next to the shower area which was still pretty wet from Nora's shower while Blake returned the locker master key. The two of them headed over to the meal hall. Halfway to the meal hall the chime sounded indicating they'd run out of time. Ruby hoped the others had found the clothes which might give them a hint.

"The elevator has arrived for your next trial," Cinder announced.

PLAYERS STILL ALIVE:

Ruby

Nora

Neptune

Yatsuhashi

Neo

Winter

Blake

Pyrrha


	11. Chapter 11

It was becoming oddly routine by this point. When the elevator reached the trial room everyone quietly walked to their lectern. No one observed the ornateness of the trial room. No one said anything to one another, but there were occasional glimpses and glances in search of the killer. Everyone was lost in thought trying to figure out who was trying to escape this game.

"There are only three suspects this time around," Winter lead off. "Neo, Blake, and Nora, you three stand under suspicion due to weak alibis at the time of the crime."

Blake nodded slowly. Neo had her head lowered and was twiddling her fingers. Nora stood still with her arms crossed.

"My analysis of the crime scene," Winter continued, "indicates a fight took place between Sun and his assailant. The boot marks and heel scuffs on the lockers show an acrobatic encounter between the assailant and Sun. I have been informed it is Sun's fighting nature to leap around and make full use of hands, feet, and tail. The heel marks indicate a similar fighting style by the assailant, which narrows the suspects to Blake or Neo."

 **Why couldn't Nora have done that?** Neo asked.

"Two reasons," Winter said, "The first is she appears to wear boots normally. That, however, is insufficient evidence now that we have alternative outfit options. The second reason I don't suspect Nora is I witnessed her fighting during the tournament and she prefers brute force and head long assaults. That fighting style was not evident in this exchange."

"You still think I killed Sun?" Blake asked, her hands shaking.

"We can't prove you didn't do it," Neptune said.

"I'd never kill Sun," Blake exclaimed. "I… I know it looks bad. But I swear."

Blake was now gripping her lectern and continued to shake. Ruby wanted to comfort her, to say she knew Blake wouldn't kill Sun. Yet she found herself quiet as her former teammate began to panic.

"Blake," Pyrrha said, "We haven't reached a conclusion yet. I believe in your innocence. Please, take a deep breath."

Blake listened and inhaled slowly. She let it out raggedly and took another deep breath. Her hands were still shaking, but less noticeably and her grip on the lectern had lessened.

"Sorry," Blake said. "I'm just… very upset."

"If I may continue," Winter said. "I would like to rule out Blake as a suspect. The fight appeared very contained as most of the blood was no more than a meter or two from the body. Having watched Blake in the tournament her style of fighting involves more evasive tactics. If she were to have fought Sun the blood likely would've reached further down the aisle of lockers."

"Wait," Ruby interjected, "I'm not entirely sure that's right."

"Ruby," Blake muttered.

"Why not?" Winter asked.

"If all the blood was in one place, why are we assuming there was a fight at all?" Ruby asked.

"The damage done to the lockers indicates a fight," Winter said, "that alongside the injuries sustained by Sun."

"What if the injuries were applied after Sun had died?" Ruby proposed. "You said yourself the sheer number of cuts meant some had to be applied after he had died. What if they were all applied after he'd died?"

"Then what about the damage done around the scene?" Neptune asked. "You think the attacker destroyed the lockers to fake a fight?"

"I'm not sure," Ruby hesitated. "It doesn't make sense, but it could make investigation harder."

"It is possible, but unlikely," Winter said. "If there were only marks of an attacker I'd believe it, but there were also shoe imprints from Sun indicating he'd participated. Had the attacker faked the fight after killing Sun, how would they have damaged the scene in a manner similar to Sun's style of fighting?"

"They'd have to know Sun well enough to recreate that kind of fighting," Ruby said, her gaze glancing over to Blake.

"Even then," Winter said. "They'd have to have killed him without him having time to react."

"If he'd trusted the person…" Neptune trailed off.

Ruby looked at Neptune. His eyes were locked on Blake. His grip on his lectern was tightening. Blake was meeting Neptune's gaze. A palpable tension was building in the room.

"I didn't –" Blake began.

"You could've," Neptune cut her off.

"For what reason?" Blake asked.

"You're always running!" Neptune yelled. "You probably thought you could get away, again. Then you killed Sun because he's the only one who'd chase you down and make you think about what you did."

"Don't act like you know me," Blake shot back.

"There also isn't any evidence for that motive," Pyrrha added. "We mustn't convict someone on a gut feeling."

"So who else could've done it?" Neptune demanded.

"Neo," Winter said sternly.

 **Excuse you!** Neo typed out.

"She's the only remaining criminal here," Winter began. "Also, as I stated earlier, the other suspects didn't match the fighting style found at the scene. I'm not familiar with how Neo fights, but by process of elimination it is most likely her."

"Yang once fought her," Blake said. "She said she leaps around avoiding every attack thrown at her. Then she cuts them up with her rapier. That's exactly what happened to Sun."

"Is that really how she fights?" Winter asked.

 **Yes, but I didn't kill Sun**. Neo pleaded.

"So," Blake said, "The attacker had to be Neo. That explains why she doesn't have blood on her. She just avoided it all while cutting up Sun. This psychopath didn't even stop slashing after he'd died."

"Or," Neptune interjected, "It was you, and you're deflecting blame. If you strolled up with the rapier hidden and then BAM. Stab him before he knows what's going on. Then slash him up and make it look exactly like a fight that would've happened between Sun and Neo."

"I think that's enough," Cinder's voice came through the speaker. "You seem to have your final proposals. Time to vote for who killed Sun."

Ruby's lectern lit up with the names of everyone left in the game. She had to be quick. She wasn't sure about a lot of things, and something kept nagging at her. She felt like they were missing a crucial detail. Something that would prove the killer. She ignored her hesitation and went with what her gut said; her gut said this was Neo.

"The votes are in," Cinder announced. "We have one abstain."

The monitor lit up with the word abstain and a one next to it.

"Three votes Blake," Cinder said.

Blake's name appeared with a three.

"Close to her, we have four votes Neo," Cinder said.

Neo's name appeared with a four next to it. Sad trumpets played with this result. Neo grit her teeth silently. Ruby heard someone fall down. She looked to see Nora with her head in her hands having collapsed to the ground.

"I'm so sorry," Ruby heard her moaning. She was sobbing as she repeated, "I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry."

"Bad luck," Cinder's voice announced. "Neo was not the killer. It was in fact Nora Valkyrie who killed Sun Wukong. However, the execution must continue."

* * *

Neo was falling. All around her were a storm of Grimm. She tumbled head over heels as the Grimm came at her one at a time. She wasn't going quietly. She kicked the Grimm away which altered her momentum. She drifted backwards into more Grimm. She continued to kick at them to survive.

Her mouth was open in silent screams of rage. Her eyes were tearing up. She was at a disadvantage. The Grimm were more at home in the sky and began to land strikes. She began to bleed and her face contorted in pain. A new shadow began to drift into the mess of things. It was more humanoid.

Neo spun and faced the silhouette. As it became more defined Neo's eyes lit up in joy. She tried to swim through the air and kicked off any Grimm she could regardless of injury. The silhouette began to take the shape of Roman Torchwick. He was also having a fight against the Grimm. He had yet to notice Neo.

One kick sent Torchwick spiraling around. He saw Neo in that spiral as she frantically made her way towards him. He also began to work his way towards her. They collided in the air and began to spin around in free fall together.

"Hey kiddo," Torchwick said, "how you been?"

Torchwick had tears in his eyes. Neo had just let hers flow freely. There was no time to answer. The two collided with the ground in a solid splat.

* * *

Back in the trial room was another mess. Ruby hadn't moved from her lectern and was leaning on it for support. She watched in silence as Neo met her fate. Yatsuhashi was holding Neptune back as he screamed for Nora's blood. Nora was still collapsed repeating apologies to deaf ears. Winter was shaking for reasons yet unknown. Pyrrha was slowly backing away from Nora. It was a mess of emotions.

"Why?" Ruby eventually managed.

Nora looked up. Her face was pale and her eyes blood shot. Tears rolled down her face. She tried to speak but kept falling silent.

"I… can't say," she eventually managed.

"Actually," Cinders said through the speaker, "you're free to say. After all, you won."

"I couldn't lose Ren," Nora said. "When Jaune died… it became so real. I could lose Ren. I wasn't going to lose him."

"How romantic," Cinder said. "There is still the matter of Sun's hostage. I could execute him grandiosely, but the big set up we had needed Sun to complete it."

The monitor lit up with a new scene. It was a cell with a bed and toilet. Scarlet was pacing back and forth.

"Say hello," Cinder said.

Scarlet looked directly at the monitor when he asked, "Did they catch the killer? Did they do m boy justice?"

A door off screen slid open. Scarlet turned to see what was going on. An arrow suddenly flew from off screen. It went straight through Scarlet's throat. He stumbled forward, gaging and gasping for air. His hands clawed at the arrow trying to break it off. It lasted a brief moment befro he fell face flat and ceased to move. Cinder then walked into frame.

"Shame," she said. "I'd been aiming for his head. This just requires more cleanup."

"I'll fucking kill you!" Neptune screamed at the monitor this time.

"Win my game, and you might get your chance," Cinder said. "Nora, your ride is here. I'll explain how you got away with your crime, so feel free to leave with Ren whenever."

The elevator opened to reveal Ren standing there. Nora ran over to him. She tried to embrace him, but he pushed her away.

"I know what you did," Ren said solemnly, "we watch the game in our cells."

"Ren please," Nora began, "I… I had to save you."

"I know," Ren said.

The elevator doors closed. The sound of the engine carrying them out of the compound made ruby feel empty. She'd made a mistake and assumed neo was the killer. What had she missed? She turned to Cinder on the monitor.

"Nora pulled one over you all," Cinder said. "First was the weapon. She grabbed the rapier the night before and hid it in her locker. She also had three outfits in her locker: her workout clothes, spare clothes, and a third set with heels. She waited until after the sparring match. She went to the girls room and quickly changed into the third set and grabbed her rapier. Luckily, Sun was still alone in the changing room. She then snuck up on the unsuspecting boy and stabbed him through the back, right in the heart. She grabbed his mouth to ensure he didn't scream, at which point she dislocated his jaw.

"Once he'd stop moving she removed his shoes and her own. She went about thrashing the lockers. Kind of contradicted avoiding him screaming, but she wasn't thinking perfectly. She also pulled out the rapier and scratched up the lockers. She then replaced the rapier back in its original spot, but now in the front to look like a head on assault. She then went back to the girls room and took a shower. Once all the blood had been washed off her naked body she stuffed the murder clothes down the drain. That was a clue you all seemed to have missed, the showers being wet ages after the last shower. Almost like someone had clogged the drain?"

Ruby felt a pain go through her chest. She had noticed that, but hadn't thought anything of it. She knew Nora had taken a shower but it had never clicked that after forty minutes of investigation it shouldn't have still looked like someone had freshly showered. That was the key thing she'd missed.

"Then it was a matter of keeping her composure," Cinder continued. "Let the accusations fly and do only what was necessary to keep them off her. I doubt she'll sleep soundly ever again, but at least she saved her beloved Ren. I hope you all follow her example. This game is far more interesting the more violence that goes into the murders."

PLAYERS STILL ALIVE:

Ruby

Neptune

Yatsuhashi

Winter

Blake

Pyrrha


	12. Chapter 12

Ruby was numb. She was absolutely still in her bed. She was staring at the clock on her bed stand. It glowed red displaying the time 10:12. She'd been awake since 4 or so. Her sleep had been plagued with nightmares; people dying, screaming, and distorted settings of the crime scenes had tormented her every time her eyes closed. She pulled the covers over her head and curled into a ball.

There was a knock on her bedroom door. Ruby didn't move from under the covers. She hardly even heard the door knock and didn't want to answer it.

"Ruby?" Someone asked from the other side, knocking again.

"Who's there?" Ruby replied, way softer than she'd intended.

The knocking continued, growing more intense, "Ruby?"

"What?" Ruby replied, a little louder.

"May I come in?" the person asked.

Ruby didn't respond. She really didn't want to put on a fake smile. She was positive she couldn't manage a fake smile. She considered just lying and saying she was under the weather. The door knob turned and the door began to slowly creak open.

"Don't come in," Ruby said.

The door stopped opening. There was a few moments of silence. The door continued to creak open.

"I'm sorry, but no," the voice said.

Without the door muffling the voice Ruby recognized it as Pyrrha. Ruby curled up even tighter in her bed sheets. The bed sagged near Ruby's feet as Pyrrha took a seat.

"Pyrrha?" Ruby ventured.

"Yes?" Pyrrha responded in her usual gentle voice.

There was a long silence before Ruby said, "We can't win, can we?"

"We will get out of here," Pyrrha assured.

"That isn't winning," Ruby replied. "Not anymore."

"Ruby – "

"People died. Our friends are dead. We couldn't save them. No matter how hard we tried there was no winning this game. We tried to catch every killer. I thought that would be enough. That that would be enough to win. Then…. Then Nora… Why…"

Ruby trailed off into tears. She felt a hand touch her back through the sheets, and she couldn't hold it in any more. She bawled under the covers. Deep sobs punctuated by gasps for more air. She didn't know how long she'd cried, but when she had finished her eyes burned and her breath was stuttered as it tried to adjust to normal. The hand had never wavered and had slowly stroked her back as she'd cried.

Rub slowly sat up under her covers, and in so doing they slipped down to her waist. Her eyes were still a little blurry from the tears but saw Pyrrha sitting on her bed in her everyday clothes. Ruby noticed her eyes were also a little red, and Pyrrha quickly wiped away any lingering tears from her own face. She then pulled Ruby in for a hug and caressed the back of her head during the hug.

"I see what you mean Ruby," Pyrrha soothed, "but it isn't your fault. No one will ever blame you for what happens in this prison."

"I just don't understand why," Ruby managed. "We were going to escape. Why did Nora… why did she kill Sun?"

"I don't know," Pyrrha admitted, "and we still are going to escape."

Ruby pulled away from the embrace and Pyrrha let her. Ruby looked at the floor before looking back to Pyrrha. The red head had small smile, but Ruby saw the pain in her eyes.

"Thank you," Ruby whispered.

Pyrrha simply smiled in return and said, "We should get you some breakfast."

"Give me a minute to get dressed," Ruby said.

When Pyrrha and Ruby got to the meal hall they saw Neptune and Blake still there. Blake got up and moved over to them as they entered. Neptune didn't flinch. He sat still, eyes glazed over, just staring past his breakfast. His food was completely untouched.

"Ruby," Blake said. "I was worried. You're usually here earlier."

"I uh…" Ruby stammered. "I slept in a bit today."

"Oh," Blake said, "I see."

"How's Neptune?" Pyrrha asked.

"I went and got him when you went for Ruby," Blake explained. "I told him to come join everyone at breakfast. He got up almost mechanically and walked over. He didn't change or say anything. That's the food I got for him."

"That's not good," Pyrrha said.

"No, it isn't," Blake said. "I think Su… yesterday's death is hitting him the hardest."

"How can we help?" Ruby asked.

"I think… he just needs some space," Blake guessed.

"We should try to take his mind off it," Ruby countered. "We should be there for him."

"I can hear you," Neptune suddenly said.

"Sorry," Pyrrha said.

"I'm fine," Neptune said.

"The hell you are," Blake said.

"Don't act like you know me," Neptune said coolly, "or like you know what I'm going through."

"Excuse me," Blake said.

"Guys, we should – " Ruby tried.

"Sun meant so much to me," Neptune said. "You don't understand."

"You think you're the only one who cared about Sun?" Blake began to yell.

"I cared about him the most," Neptune retorted. "Then I screwed up the trial. I helped that bitch get away with his murder."

"Don't call Nora a bitch!" Ruby found herself yelling.

"Then what is she? A winner?" Neptune asked.

"She's… I don't know," Ruby backed down.

"She's my comrade," Pyrrha interjected. "I don't know why she did it, but I can't throw blame around without understanding her position."

"Her position?" Neptune said. "She killed Sun. There isn't much 'position' to it. She's no different than any other killer."

"There's a big difference," Pyrrha said. "Nora killed in order to save Ren. She didn't do it for fun, and it looked like it really hurt her."

"Pyrrha, are you trying to say we should feel sorry for her?" Blake asked.

"No," Pyrrha said quickly. "I'm saying she isn't some 'bitch' who kills for fun. She did it to save the person she cares about most."

"That doesn't make it right," Blake said.

"Would you have done it?" Pyrrha asked. "Would you kill to save the on you loved?"

"No," Blake said.

"You can't be sure. We don't have hostages so we'll never know what that helplessness feels like. I can't judge her actions without truly understanding her situation."

"I can," Neptune said. "I haven't killed for my hostage. You have to be one fucked up person to kill so… brutally."

"And she got away with it," Blake added.

"Ren won't ever forget this," Pyrrha said.

"Oh no," Neptune said. "Ren won't forget, how terrible."

"She loves him, imagine the one you love always seeing you as a killer." Pyrrha replied.

"She deserves it," Neptune said.

"Enough!" a powerful voice boomed throughout the meal hall.

Everyone fell silent and turned to see the origin. Yatsuhashi stood in the doorway. He did not look pleased with what he'd walked in on.

"Winter says the bomb will be ready by the evening," he announced. "She wants us to search for structural weaknesses in the building until then."

PLAYERS STILL ALIVE:

Ruby

Neptune

Yatsuhashi

Winter

Blake

Pyrrha


	13. Chapter 13

The five of them spent the rest of the day searching the compound. They all went solo t cover maximum ground. They checked every wall for potential passages on the other side. They'd concluded there was some secret path someone had been using to do clean up during trials and they needed to find it. The search resulted in nothing and the plan defaulted to its original blast site: the hidden elevator in the meal hall.

Winter, with some assistance from Yatsuhashi, brought in an assortment of wires, half made metal boxes, and dust fragments. Everyone watched silently as she placed the pieces in position. She occasionally sent Yatsuhashi back to the arcade for various tools. Neptune began to ask a question but was cut off by a wave of the hand. Winter had her entire focus on the task at hand. After what felt like forever Winter stood up with a two wires in hand.

"We need to clear the room," Winter said. "Once I activate the bomb I'll only need to cross these wires. The blast won't be as big as I'd like, but it could still kill any one of us without our aura."

The group made their way outside the meal hall. Ruby peered around the corner as Winter flipped a couple switches. She then pulled the primed wires out of the room and around the corner. She motioned for everyone to take cover. Without a shift in concentration or delicacy she crossed the wires. There was nothing. Winter crossed the wires again.

"Shit," Winter mumbled.

"What?" Blake asked.

"Something's wrong," she answered.

"What's wrong?" Pyrrha asked.

"If I knew it wouldn't be wrong," Winter said. "Now we have a bigger problem."

"Which is?" Ruby asked.

"I don't know what went wrong. As far as I know there's some unaccounted for delay or temporary interference in the system. We can't just go in there to fix it since the bomb might still go off. The other issue is we can't fix the problem if we can't get near."

"So we wait until its safe," Blake said.

"Yes, but it will only minimize risk of spontaneous detonation," Winter replied.

The group huddled down for another waiting game. Neptune paced back and forth in the hallway. Winter checked into the room every few minutes before double checking the clock. Ruby felt her heart begin to settle as the seconds became minutes and the odds of the bomb going off dwindled.

"It's been twenty minutes," Winter announced, "Now is as safe a time as any to check the circuitry."

Winter began to move into the room. Yatsuhashi made to follow but she waved him back. Approaching the bomb she set it back to its unprimed state. She then mulled over the wires and dust connections. Ruby sat with Pyrrha and Blake in silence as she did her work. Eventually she began to move about some wires and muttered something to herself. Ruby couldn't make out the exact words but she was not pleased about what she'd found.

"It's set, again," Winter said.

The group repeated the process of leaving the room with Winter close behind. The bomb was prepped and the group huddled behind the wall in anticipation. Winter took a deep breath before raising the wires. Slowly and deliberately she crossed them.

This time there was a spark followed by a massive blast. The thunderous succession of roars as the clusters of dust ignited filled the air. Without any means to direct such an explosion fire went every which direction and some of it billowed out into the hallway. The blast was closely followed by sizzling and smoke the group coughed on. The smoke hung in the area for a few seconds before an emergency sprinkler system activated.

Everyone was drenched and winter advanced around the corner. She stopped checking over her work. Ruby turned the corner too to observe the damage. The wall was certainly damaged but it had remained in one piece. Winter advanced at the wall and kicked it with all the strength she could muster.

"Why! Won't! You! Break?!" Winter screamed as she began to wail on the wall.

"No," Pyrrha whispered as she began to accept what had happened.

"How can it still be there?" Neptune asked. "That blast…. It should've destroyed it."

A small tune played over the intercom. Ruby began to panic since the tune made her think someone had died. Cinder's voice came in over the speakers.

"Did you really think I'd just let you build a way out of here?" Cinder asked. "I let you do this because it would prove just how trapped you are. So let me remind you, there is only one way out of this game. Stop trying to cheat as next time I won't be so… lenient in oversight."

No one said much of anything the rest of the day. Their only hope at escape had failed. Ruby had gone back to her room to be alone. She found herself thinking over the reality of this game. If she wanted to leave did she really have to kill someone? She bit her lip and clenched her fists. She was going to make sure it never came to that; not for her.

"Ruby?" Pyrrha asked, knocking at her door.

"What?" Ruby asked through the door.

"I was going to make some dinner with Yatsuhashi. Do you have any requests?" Pyrrha asked.

Ruby was quiet for a long time. She wasn't thinking about food. She had no appetite to speak of.

"We need to keep our strength up," Pyrrha said. "You should join us. Dinner will be ready when you are."

Ruby heard her walk away from the door. She laid back on her bed and sprawled her arms out. Her mind raced a mile a minute thinking over everything. Was there another way? If they couldn't break out, could they trick Cinder? Even if they escaped what would happen to the hostages? Should she put her morals in front of saving Penny?

This was all interrupted by a scream. Ruby was on her feet and out the door before it even registered who had screamed. Her heart sank as she realized it was Pyrrha's scream she'd just heard. She willed her legs to move faster, there was still a chance she was alright. Visions of Beacon played in her head of the last time she was running to save Pyrrha. It wouldn't be like that. Not a second time.

She turned the corner and collided with someone, sending them both to the ground. She regained her balance and pushed herself up. Ruby realized she'd hit Pyrrha who had tears in her eyes. Ruby got herself half back on her feet before looking down the hallway. Her body froze at the sight.

At the end of the hallway was Winter. Her white outfit stained red with splatters of blood. At her feet was a mangled body with a sword still protruding from its back. Ruby was too far to see details, but she knew in an instant who the body was. The three notes played over the speakers.

"A body has been found," Cinder said, "Blake Belladonna has been found dead."

PLAYERS STILL ALIVE:

Ruby

Neptune

Yatsuhashi

Winter

Pyrrha


	14. Chapter 14

The hour of investigation came and went. Everyone was sitting and waiting for the elevator to arrive so they could get to the trial. Ruby was shaking ever so slightly. Her eyes looked up at Winter who sat calmly at a table separated from everyone else. Ruby thought back to the crime scene which was occupying her thoughts.

She'd seen Winter standing over Blake's body. The sword protruding from her back as blood flowed from the wound. Winter had calmly pivoted from her position over the corpse to face Pyrrha and Ruby once the two of them arrived. There was blood all over the front of her white uniform. Her eyes had been laser focused and menacing.

"Winter… did you…"Ruby had attempted.

"Of course I did Ruby," Winter had replied. "There is no denying my actions. I killed Blake Belladonna."

The elevator ping snapped Ruby back to the present; freeing her from the scene playing on continuous loop in her head. The group moved into the elevator, keeping their distance from Winter once inside. The ride felt longer than ever before. Ruby wondered what there even was to debate if she'd confessed.

The trial room felt exceptionally empty. The marble walls and pillars surrounding the lecterns were growing dusty in the absence of maintenance. The circle of lecterns originally designed to accommodate eleven players now sat the remaining five survivors. The assigned circle order went Neptune, Yatsuhashi, Ruby, Pyrrha, Winter. The arrangement had everyone standing one lectern apart in the circle with the extra empty one falling between Winter and Neptune.

Once at his lectern Neptune said, "Well I'm ready. I vote Winter as the killer."

"I am still allowed to defend myself," Winter protested.

"How do plan on doing that?" Pyrrha asked.

"I don't intend to deny my actions," Winter began. "Without a doubt I killed Blake."

"Case closed," Neptune interrupted. "I vote Winter."

"I killed her for more… tactical reasons," Winter continued despite the interruption.

"Tactical reasons?" Pyrrha echoed.

"Blake had no hostage," Winter said. "There were only two such players in this game: Blake and Pyrrha. Everyone else had someone waiting for them, and I made a judgement call. Killing one of the aforementioned players would mean sacrificing one life to save two."

"What?" Ruby asked.

"In previous trials the situation was different," Winter said. "Every victim up to this point had a hostage. When the killer acted they knew full well that such action would eventually kill the hostage and yet they acted anyway. They decided to take two lives to save two lives; a price I couldn't agree with. However, to kill one person to save more than one person, that is an entirely different matter."

"And because of that we should just let you go?" Neptune asked. "You're so full of yourself. Let's put that argument a little differently. You killed Blake to save someone else and yourself. That's a one for one rescue coupled with self-preservation under the guise of heroics."

"Would you do it?" Winter asked bluntly.

"No," Neptune said.

"Answer the right question," Winter pressed. "Not 'Would you kill Blake?' I'm asking would you kill someone to save yourself and the one most dear to you? Or would you let that person go, killing you and your loved one in the process?"

"Obviously I wouldn't since I didn't," Neptune retorted, somewhat sarcastically.

"Because you didn't think of the situation like that," Winter said.

"Either way makes you a murderer," Pyrrha said. "You killed someone who had no motive to kill."

"Don't act so removed, failed fall maiden," Winter said.

"How do you…" Pyrrha stammered.

"I work with Ironwood," Winter explained. "After Beacon fell he told me about the plan. You and I aren't too different."

"Pyrrha, what's she talking about?" Ruby asked.

"Go ahead and tell them," Winter said. "Do tell the tale from that lovely glass house of yours. I'll fact check."

"You weren't there," Pyrrha said.

"But I know what you were doing," Winter said.

"What happened?" Neptune insisted.

"Long story short, the Invincible Girl had to make a decision," Winter elaborated. "She had to choose whether or not killing someone was worth saving countless other lives. Apparently there was some debate, but she decided one life was worth it."

"I didn't kill her," Pyrrha protested.

"You planned to, and if you'd had a moment more you would've," Winter countered.

"I was going to save everyone," Pyrrha continued. Her breathing had accelerated as she continued, "you're only saving two people. I was going to save Beacon. I didn't want to… but… Ozpin and Glynda… they made it sound like the only option. Then Cinder and…"

"Are you saying two lives aren't worth one?" Winter asked.

"I, uh…" Pyrrha was flustered.

"When does sacrifice become justifiable?" Winter pressed. "Am I not allowed to save myself, or does every hero have to die?"

"Enough," Yatsuhashi interjected.

Ruby turned to look at him. This was the first time he'd spoken during a trial since Coco. She turned to see Pyrrha was on the verge of tears. Neptune was gripping his lectern and glaring daggers at Winter.

"You want us to treat this trial differently than the others?" Yatsuhashi asked, his tone stern and cold.

"Yes," Winter answered.

"Despite Coco being convicted for an accident?" Yatsuhashi pressed.

There was hesitation before Winter said, "Yes."

"Why do you think you're so special?" Yatsuhashi asked.

"Look at the circumstance of the trial," Winter said. "If you convict me you should consider the consequences. My conviction would kill me, it would kill my hostage, and Blake would still be dead. Unlike the other trials, there is no one to save by convicting me."

"That is what I hate about this 'game,'" Yatsuhashi sighed. "It warps your minds. When Coco was punished, I promised not to play this 'game.' I promised to never vote again. I intend to uphold that, and I won't vote for you. You should know, I despise your way of thinking; that pure logic that treats people like numbers."

"It's more than that," Winter whispered, suddenly reserved. "I have someone to protect."

"You think we don't?" Yatsuhashi bellowed in response.

"I seem to be the only one who would do anything for that person!" Winter retorted, equally upset.

"I would tear this world apart for Velvet!" Yatsuhashi returned. "But I won't kill if I… I…"

Ruby looked over at Yatsuhashi. He was grasping at his throat and falling over his lectern. She rushed over to him and saw his bracelet was lit up bright red. It then clicked he'd said Velvet's name, and that that must have been his hostage.

Cinder's voice came through a speaker, "Oh no. It would appear Yatsuhashi has broken a rule. Players are not allowed to reveal their hostage. By breaking that rule he has forfeited the game and his life. Since his death occurred during trial his vote will be cast as abstained."

"What… about…" Yatsuhashi tried to ask, but was fading fast.

"What is it?" Ruby asked, leaning in closer to hear.

"…Velvet?" He managed before finally collapsing from his lectern.

"What about Velvet?" Ruby asked to Cinder.

"Since Yatsuhashi has died, she has also lost," Cinder said. "I'm on my way to finish her now."

Ruby looked down to Yatsuhashi. His eyes were unfocused and his body wasn't moving. She hoped he hadn't heard what was going to happen to Velvet. She didn't want him to suffer any more in his final moments.

"You all should be wrapping up your trial soon," Cinder continued over the speaker. "In fact, you are beginning to bore me with your philosophical arguments, so I'll begin the vote now."

Ruby hurried back to her lectern, still at the beck and call of the game. She looked at the options. Should she convict Winter or was she right? Is it better to let her walk and have two more people survive this game? Ruby thought back to the trial with Coco. She hadn't made a decision then and was running out of time to make one now. She almost pushed the button to convict Winter when she remembered something. Winter had told her that her hostage was of interest to Ruby a while back. Ruby withdrew her hand from the console.

"The votes are in," Cinder announced.

A scream was heard from the speaker. Ruby looked up at the speaker and realized the scream sounded like Velvet. Her knees shook and she gripped her lectern tightly. She just wanted to hear the results and go back to her room. She didn't want to be here. She wanted to go back to bed and wake up from this nightmare.

"Two votes Winter," Cinder said. "Three abstained. Congratulations Winter Schnee, you and your sister are free to leave. I'll send her up with your escape momentarily."

Winter took a step away from her lectern. She sighed heavily and gripped her chest. Ruby saw her bracelet that tied her to the game fall from her wrist. She moved over to the elevator out. When it arrived Weiss was inside. Weiss backed away from her sister when she saw her.

"Winter… how could you?" Weiss asked.

"I did this for us," Winter said.

"No," she said. "Please don't say that."

As the doors to the elevator began to close, Winter turned and said, "I will come back for you all."

PLAYERS STILL ALIVE:

Ruby

Neptune

Pyrrha


	15. Chapter 15

The elevator ride felt longer than normal. Ruby felt sick to her stomach after the last trial. She was still trying to accept that she'd let Winter go knowing. It felt wrong on so many levels to just let a murderer walk, and she was trying to understand why she'd done it. She kept coming back to the fact it had save Weiss, but when she'd made the decision she hadn't known that. So why? Why did she let Winter go?

"Ruby," Pyrrha said.

Ruby looked up to see the elevator had arrived. Neptune had already walked out to the meal hall and had his hands raised behind his head. He was pacing furiously. Pyrrha was looking back into the elevator at ruby with some concern in her eyes. Ruby slowly left the elevator and it closed behind her. There were a couple chimes as the elevator closed.

"We have come down to the final three players," Cinder announced. "Due to the circumstances of the survivors I'm making a small rule change."

Ruby felt her heart sink. She knew whatever Cinder had planned was going to make their life more of a living hell in some way.

"To avoid a one on one death match in the future I need to update the rules regarding hostages," Cinder continued. "If a player dies, regardless of circumstance, their hostage will also be killed. That is all."

"What does that mean?" Ruby asked.

"It's because of you," Neptune muttered.

Pyrrha darted a glare at Neptune before asking Ruby, "You know what you did back there, right?"

"I know," Ruby said. "I let Winter get away with murdering Blake."

"More than that," Pyrrha said. "You remember the rules about leaving?"

"If you get away with murder you get to leave with your hostage," Ruby answered.

"What about if you are the last one standing?" Pyrrha prodded.

"You can leave if less than three players got away with their crime," Ruby said.

"Which means only one of us is getting out of here," Neptune said. "Thanks to you, two players got away with their crime. If any of us get killed it means one of two things: the killer leaves which brings our successful player count to three or they are convicted and the last one standing leaves. Now we have the bonus rule where if I die my hostage joins me in hell automatically."

"This wasn't what I wanted," Ruby protested.

"Then what did you want?" Neptune asked advancing.

Pyrrha stepped between the two of them, "Neptune, calm down."

"So you're on her side?" Neptune asked.

"There are no sides Neptune," Pyrrha said.

"You're right," he agreed. "As of now, it's all for one."

With that Neptune left the room. Ruby brushed past Pyrrha to head to her own room. She just wanted to lie down, to sleep, to take her mind off everything. Pyrrha began to follow but Ruby heard her steps stop at the door of the meal hall. She appreciated that Pyrrha was giving her some space.

Ruby must've lain in her bed for hours. She lay on her back and starred vacantly at the ceiling. All she thought about was the past; her time at Beacon with her team. She found herself dreaming of a lecture by Port. She wanted to go back to that. She wanted anything from before the fall of Beacon.

There was a soft knock on her door followed by, "Ruby?"

Ruby turned her head to see the clock. It had been four hours since the trial. She turned back to face the ceiling.

"Ruby," Pyrrha continued to say through the door, "I made some dinner. I'm going to invite Neptune too. You should really eat something."

"I'll be there in a minute," Ruby said.

Ruby heard a very soft "Thank you." She slowly rolled from her bed. It almost felt like an observer in her own body as she walked to the meal hall. Neptune and Pyrrha were already sitting there at the same table. Pyrrha smiled when Ruby entered.

"There's some on the stove in there for you," Pyrrha said.

Ruby went into the kitchen and grabbed a bowl. It never registered what was made. She took a seat with Neptune and Pyrrha and ate a spoonful of the meal. She felt the food in her mouth but no flavor or texture registered. Despite this she continued to put eat. Her gaze was distant and more focused on memories than present.

"Ruby," Pyrrha asked, "are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she said.

"Looks like her spirit finally broke," Neptune said.

"Not one more word," Pyrrha hissed at him.

"Ruby," Neptune ventured, "what's up?"

"Nothing," she replied.

"You enjoying the game?" he asked.

Ruby looked up and met Neptune's gaze. His eyes looked familiar, but they didn't remind her of Neptune. She looked long and hard trying to place where she remembered eyes like that instead of answering his question.

"Have you had enough of the game?" Neptune asked.

"Neptune," Pyrrha said.

"Uh huh," Ruby affirmed.

"Don't want to play? Resist?" Neptune asked. "Wouldn't even fight back?"

At this Pyrrha gripped her silverware tightly. She was beginning to rise from her seat. Ruby looked dead ahead at Neptune.

She simply replied, "No."

"Perfect," Neptune said.

With that Neptune drew a small knife from one of the hands Ruby couldn't see. Rather than lunge across the table at Ruby he swung the blade at Pyrrha. As if expecting the attack she had taken a step away from Neptune.

"Oh," Ruby said.

She'd finally placed who had eyes like Neptune: Mercury. They were so kind at a glance, but if you looked deeper into them they hid a bloodlust.

"Neptune, what are you doing?" Pyrrha asked.

"I'm surviving!" he declared. "I'll save my hostage. I won't lose anyone else to this fucking game."

"You don't need to do this!"

"Or what? What are my other options? Let the girl to broken to do anything survive? Or should I let the girl fighting to save herself survive? No, I'm going to get out of here."

Pyrrha and Neptune danced back and forth. Neptune would lunge and slash with the small blade which forced Pyrrha to dodge and give ground. In terms of skill Pyrrha far out matched Neptune. Ruby noticed, however, this fight looked even. Then she remembered Pyrrha's semblance gave her a massive edge in fights like this. Pyrrha also didn't seem to be fighting all out; if anything she was merely on the defensive by choice.

"Fight me damn it!" Neptune screamed. "Stop running!"

Pyrrha was against the wall. Neptune prepped for another lunge but Pyrrha kicked off the wall. She decked him in the face which sent him reeling. He did not drop the blade and swung it to keep Pyrrha at bay. Instead of press the advantage Pyrrha ran towards Ruby. She grabbed her arm and began to lead her out of the meal hall.

"Come with me," Pyrrha ordered.

Without thinking ruby did as she was told. She ran to keep up with Pyrrha who was holding her by the wrist. She knew Neptune was behind them but she kept running. Ruby began to wonder why Pyrrha had taken the time to grab her. Had she left Ruby behind Neptune could've killed her and with such easy evidence Pyrrha could've won.

"Keep up," Pyrrha called back.

Ruby hadn't slowed. It dawned on her that while she may have given up, Pyrrha hadn't. She still had hope for both Ruby and Neptune. She wanted to see everyone survive.

"Pyrrha," Ruby called back, "where are we going?"

"You'll see," Pyrrha said, turning her head to smile at Ruby.

The smile quickly turned into a look of panic. Ruby felt herself pulled forward as Pyrrha threw her ahead. The throw wasn't fast enough though as a blade slashed against her back. It made a small cut in her clothes and back and the throw sent her tumbling. When she'd gotten to her feet she saw Pyrrha kick Neptune in the stomach and dart away while he stepped back.

"Let's go," Pyrrha said.

The two of them continued to run through the hallways of the compound. Pyrrha eventually stopped at one door and waved Ruby over. She threw the doors open and the two of them went inside. The smell of chlorine told Ruby they were in the pool room before she saw it.

The pool was massive with eight lanes and a diving board area. Pyrrha pulled Ruby over to the other side of the door as Neptune burst through. His face was contorted in animalistic rage on entering. Once he saw the pool the rage vanished and was replaced with that of fear.

He began to stutter step away from the water. Pyrrha lunged at him and tackled him to the ground. In the daze of fear it seemed like Neptune couldn't respond to the attack. Ruby saw the blade skitter away from the two fighters.

"Pyrrha!" Ruby said.

Ruby went over to the two and paused. Pyrrha wasn't moving, and neither was Neptune. She took a step back as she saw blood begin to flow from the two of them into the pool.

"Ruby," Pyrrha said, "I… I only meant to disarm him."

Neptune had hit the ground hard. The concrete flooring had a small, near negligible jagged area in it. As misfortune would have it Neptune's skull had landed temple first on that jagged bit. His hand still twitched.

"Neptune I'm so sorry," Pyrrha pleaded.

"My… fault…not… yours…" Neptune managed.

Ruby could see his face and it looked like in his final moments he'd returned to the Neptune she'd known. It was a couple more seconds of twitching before Neptune's hand finally stopped. Pyrrha was bent over the body, crying softly.

A chime interrupted things and Cinder declared, "A body has been found. Neptune Vasilias has been found dead. Well, with only two players I guess I didn't need to announce this."

"Stop it," Ruby muttered.

"Two murders in one day, my my my," Cinder continued. "Children are ever bloodthirsty these days."

"Shut up," Ruby said louder.

"To be honest, I wasn't expecting the final killer to be Ms. Nikos," Cinder said.

"Enough!" Ruby screamed.

"You're right," Cinder said, unfazed, "Let's just get to the trial. As Pyrrha is the oh so obvious killer I leave her fate in the hands of Ruby alone."

"Me?" Ruby whispered to herself.

It was up to her. She had to choose. If Pyrrha lived then she and Penny died. If she and Penny lived then Pyrrha would die again. Her heart began to beat even harder than it already had been. Her breathing became eratic and her vision began to blur.

"Ruby," Pyrrha said holding her shoulders, "convict me. I have no one to save. You do. Please, save the two of you."

"I don't know if I can," Ruby returned. "I already let you die once. I don't think I can kill you again."

"I give you five seconds or I kill everyone Ms. Rose," Cinder announced. "Five…"

"Just kill me," Pyrrha pleaded.

"I can't do that again."

"Four…"

"You must care for your hostage."

"I do."

"Then save them."

"Three…"

"But I love you too."

"Then let me die. I'm already dead after all."

"Two…"

"But you aren't."

"To the world I am."

"They don't matter. You're life matters."

"One… Ms. Rose?"


	16. Epilogue

The Atlesian soldier climbed the last piece of debris. In front of him there was an automatic door that had one door wedged somewhat open. He moved and with the help of a squad member they pushed the doors open. The sign adjacent to the door read "control room."

"General Ironwood," the soldier radioed through his helmet.

"Go ahead," the General replied through the head piece.

"We've found the control room," the soldier informed. "Initial report, it would look like Cinder destroyed this area of the compound as well. We'll see what we can salvage from the computer."

"Be sure to run a full diagnostic of your scrolls and equipment when you're finished," Ironwood reminded.

"Yes Sir," the soldier responded before hanging up. "Let's get to it."

Ironwood put his scroll down as the soldier hung up. He looked up at the temporary camp they'd set up outside the exit of the compound. They'd only managed to find the compound after Winter contacted them. She'd managed to get to a village with an airship and took it straight to Atlas to report everything that had occurred. Ironwood had mobilized a full platoon of soldiers to the area Winter had indicated. Along the way they'd recovered the other survivors of the compound. Unfortunately the movement had come weeks after Winter escaped, and by the looks of things that was all the time Cinder had needed to cover her tracks.

Ironwood began to pace. According to Winter it sounded like Cinder had some sort of footage of the whole event. If she was able to distribute that video like she had of fall of Beacon the consequences would be catastrophic at best. It was up to his men to follow the only lead they had and stop her from finishing her scheme.

Ironwood's scroll began to buzz. He checked in anticipation of hearing some good news from his men. His face turned into a scowl as he saw who was calling.

"What is it Qrow?" he answered.

"Come on James," Qrow said on the other end, "there's no need to be as cold as Winter."

"I'm very busy. If you forgot, I'm leading a search and don't really have time for idle chat with you."

"That's part of why I'm calling. The patients want to know how it's going."

"How are they?" Ironwood becoming very concerned.

"Your girl was put back together. Her memory right before 'dying' is fuzzy, but she says she's 'combat ready.'" Qrow responded. "Ruby isn't in as good shape."

Qrow released a very large sigh. Ironwood gave him a moment.

"Ruby… hasn't said anything yet," Qrow finally said. "She won't look at anyone. She sort of turns to look at the robot girl, but that's all she manages. We still don't know what she had to do to get out of there."

"From what we do know she either killed Neptune or Pyrrha. I don't think either would've been an easy decision."

"No James, I don't think it would," Qrow asserted.

"It was necessary."

"I don't need you to tell me that."

There was a long silence. Ironwood considered hanging up as his hand hovered over the button. He withdrew his hand.

"You said that was only part of the reason you called," Ironwood said. "What else did you want to know?"

"How is the trial going?" Qrow asked. "We can't get direct broadcasts or news. I know Winter is on trial now for killing that Cat Faunus."

"It looks like any other murder trial," Ironwood said. "The evidence, or really lack thereof however, is shaping it up to look like she'll get away with a light sentence if any."

"Right," Qrow said, "'Cause Atlas prides themselves of delivering equal judgement for the murder of Faunus."

"You sound like you want her in jail."

"It might be good for her. I'm sure you'd arrange a very nice cell for her."

"Qrow, I'm hanging up."

"Wait," Qrow forced. "There's one other thing I want to know. I get Winter is going to probably walk or something. How is it looking for the other girl."

"Ms. Valkyrie? Not as good. She is a citizen of Vale first so she is facing trial there. They're still in dangerous times so her case isn't looking as good."

"Is the boy with her?"

"Last I heard he won't leave her side."

"Keep me updated. I think good news would be good for Ruby."

"I'll do my best, but I won't alter the facts."

"Fair."

With that Qrow hung up. Ironwood didn't have to put his scroll all the way down before it began to buzz. He raised it once more to his ear.

"Sir," a soldier said over the scroll.

"Yes," Ironwood replied.

"We couldn't recover anything. Cinder cleaned the whole hard drive and left no trace of where she might be headed."

"Understood, if that's all you should head on back to base," Ironwood said.

"Yes sir," the soldier said before hanging up.

Players Survived

Nora

Ren

Weiss

Winter

Ruby

Penny

Players Lost

Adam

Coco

Fox

Jaune

Mercury

Emerald

Sun

Scarlet

Neo

Torchwick

Blake

Yatsuhashi

Velvet

Neptune

Sage

Pyrrha


End file.
